by Ray Newman, radio and television commentator, attorney, educator, author

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

UNMASKING BIG BROTHER

Aldous Huxley referred to the government as Big Brother. And that is what is now entrenched in our political perspective: the misguided humanization of our government.

The government is all of us functioning as an entity. The government is us. The government is not a separate being.

The government is not a Big Brother in debt to the tune of 14 trillion dollars (some tune!)...you and I are in debt. We owe that money, and we will have to pay it. The government has no money of its own.

Big Brother has no right to tell me what I can do or must do, no right to my money, my land, my time, my life Why not? Because you don't...and Big Brother is you and you and you...and, yes, from your perspective, Big Brother is me.

When people talk about wanting a bigger government, a bigger Big Brother, they are really meaning a smaller us. When people say the government should help pay for their children's education, or their food or their mortgage, they are really saying you should pay for them. When people say that the government should set a higher minimum wage, they are really saying they will decide for you what you will work for. When people talk about raising taxes, they are really saying they have a right to decide how much of your money you can keep. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Do they? Do you?

Correctly seen for what it is, the government can properly do not one iota more than we individually can do. And that is because, when the mask is removed, lo' and behold, it is us.

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