It's probably something of an understatement to note that I have some eclectic reading habits.
The other day I was chatting with an old friend, just catching up. My friend is a big fan of mystery novels, a genre I've never found interesting, and was describing a book he was reading; when that was done, he asked me what I was reading at the moment. "Oswald Spengler's 'The Decline of the West,'" I answered truthfully. Through the phone lines, I could almost see my friend's eyebrows raising. My reading list is unusual; part of the credit for that goes to my father, who had me reading Aristotle and Plato when I was in my teens, and he had the habit of quizzing me over what I'd read.
One author of note who I keep going back to is H.L. Mencken. A couple of years back, the website Issues & Insights marked Mencken's 141st birthday with a tribute, which read in part:
Henry Louis (H.L.) Mencken, the Sage of Baltimore, born Sept. 12, 1880, was a newspaperman, essayist, satirist, social critic and perhaps America’s most outspoken defender of liberty in the first half of the 20th century. Reflecting the difference between what was defensible as consistent with preserving our rights and what government did, a major theme of his writings was that “Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.”
That's as may be, although right here, right now, in the United States, most of us on the conservative/libertarian end of the political dial are feeling pretty pleased and optimistic. Donald Trump's historic comeback was remarkable, his initial cabinet appointments are fascinating; the man is clearly putting a team together, a team of - forgive me the term - mavericks.
But how much difference, in the long run, will it make?
Government, no matter who is in charge, always seems to grow. I harbor some hopes that this new Department of Efficiency in Government, the DOGE, will to some extent reverse that growth - for a while. Our federal government is in desperate need of not only increasing efficiency but also outright downsizing, and I can give you 36 trillion reasons why this is a matter of national survival - and I would caution you to note that last time I cited the US Debt Clock, it was only $35 trillion.
You might point out that people, in effect, voted for this. Mencken offers us some wisdom on that:
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will, I expect, do some good work here. Elon in particular is the right man for this job; he literally has "screw-you" money, and even the most hysterical lawfare attempts from the left would be squelched by Elon simply pouring truckloads of money on them. But Mencken cautions us about government, its nature - and how the government reacts to efforts at any return to sanity. Mencken noted:
The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.
All government is against liberty. Even Donald Trump's government. Some governments, of course, are wont to move harder against liberty than others; as far as the United States has fallen on the freedom scale, we’re still a long way from North Korea. But the arc of government always bends in that direction - more interference in our lives and affairs, less liberty.
Despite my usual optimism, I’m not sanguine about the long-term future of the American republic. Why? Because I’ve read a lot of history. It is in the nature of government to grow always larger and more intrusive. And, as Mencken points out, all government is against liberty. It’s a ratchet, not a dial, and thus only moves the one way. I’m not saying that a return to traditional American liberty-based government is impossible, but I wouldn’t bet a nickel on it happening.
What’s surprising these days is that it all seems to be happening so quickly. Actions by the government – mass lockdowns, imprisonment of political dissenters, corruption of the military, partisan prosecutions by Imperial law enforcement - just seem to be spinning out of control.
Maybe, given honest elections, we could hold the bad things at bay a little longer. But we can’t rely on honest elections anymore, either. Meanwhile, we can look back on Mencken’s work, realize once again how prescient he was, and wait for the next shoe to drop.
See Related: The People Have Spoken - Now, Politicians Must Listen
Trump Won - but Is the Nation Moving Right for Keeps?
Alex Soros Seems to Get Why Donald Trump Has Broad 'Appeal' - but He Still Misses the Point
Another favorite quote from the Sage of Baltimore reads:
Sometimes the idiots outvote the sensible people.
As evidence, I give you 2020 - and the likelihood that it could happen again. That's why we must ever be on our guard, to safeguard liberty - and must always turn out and vote accordingly.
