Website owner: James Miller
Governance by committee
What would happen if all the decisions I make every day were made by a committee? Suppose I couldn’t make any of my own decisions. I had to go to a committee for each and every decision and they would make the decision. A committee would decide when I got up in the morning, what I ate for breakfast, where I should buy my groceries, what groceries I should buy, what items of sundry nature were important and should be purchased, when I should made necessary repairs to my house, what repairs I would make, how I would make them, when I should pay my bills, how far in debt I was allowed to go, how I spent my money, etc. A committee would decide who I married, what church I went to, what job I worked at. What kind of life would I have? What quality of life would I have? The answer is it would be one big nightmare, a horrible ordeal. My life would be ruled by a bunch of foolish eggheads, devoid of sense, good at advising others about things that didn’t affect them. I can assure you that if faced with something like that I would buy myself a tent, head for the woods, and live by myself in the middle of the woods on bugs and acorns.
Why do I ask the above question? How many of the decisions of this world are made by committee or by the majority vote of some assembly of people? The decisions of my homeowner’s association are made by vote (I have no good opinion of homeowner’s associations or of the kind of people that are drawn towards serving on their boards) and the decisions of organizations and governmental entities everywhere, from the local level to the national level, are made by vote. The laws made by our national and state governments are made by the majority vote of groups of people (state and national congresses). The basic assumption is that the collective judgment of a group of people is better than the judgment of a single person. Well, I wouldn’t want any collection of people making decisions for me. And I don’t have any confidence in popular or mass mentality.
Our government has been fighting the War on Drugs for around 50 years now and I think it may be losing the war. President Johnson declared a war on poverty back in 1964 and from the number of people who are currently on government welfare I would say that war was certainly not won. (What happened there?) We have a national debt that has gone from $286 billion in 1960 to over $20 trillion today. (That doesn’t sound at all good to me. I would say we are living in a financial house of cards. One day it will surely come crashing down unless there is some big change of course. I would say the country is a walking financial time bomb.) According to the 2017 Trustee’s report, the Social Security system will be bankrupt by 2035. Our Medicare system is also in big financial trouble. We now have millions of illegal residents in this country who have flooded in from Latin America and our government seems unable to deal with that problem. Is our government just plain inept or what? How do you explain this kind of inept, foolish governance? Would any intelligent person choose to keep borrowing more and more money to fund more and more government programs if the end game was obviously financial disaster? What is going on? Could we say that the cause of it all is “rule by committee”? How can you deal with the debt problem when the masses all want more government programs and handouts and politicians are just not willing to vote against the wishes of the masses? The politicians have their jobs to consider. They want to be reelected again. The masses just don’t like hearing about things like fiscal realities. They want what they want and will vote for people who will give it to them. So what do you do? The politician knows that if he doesn’t give his constituents what they want they will just replace him with someone who will and so he gives them what they want and hopes the building doesn’t come crashing down in his lifetime.
Action based on majority vote doesn’t lead to intelligent, rational action.
Feb 2018
Jesus Christ and His Teachings
Way of enlightenment, wisdom, and understanding
America, a corrupt, depraved, shameless country
On integrity and the lack of it
The test of a person's Christianity is what he is
Ninety five percent of the problems that most people have come from personal foolishness
Liberalism, socialism and the modern welfare state
The desire to harm, a motivation for conduct
On Self-sufficient Country Living, Homesteading
Topically Arranged Proverbs, Precepts, Quotations. Common Sayings. Poor Richard's Almanac.
Theory on the Formation of Character
People are like radio tuners --- they pick out and listen to one wavelength and ignore the rest
Cause of Character Traits --- According to Aristotle
We are what we eat --- living under the discipline of a diet
Avoiding problems and trouble in life
Role of habit in formation of character
Personal attributes of the true Christian
What determines a person's character?
Love of God and love of virtue are closely united
Intellectual disparities among people and the power in good habits
Tools of Satan. Tactics and Tricks used by the Devil.
The Natural Way -- The Unnatural Way
Wisdom, Reason and Virtue are closely related
Knowledge is one thing, wisdom is another
My views on Christianity in America
The most important thing in life is understanding
We are all examples --- for good or for bad
Television --- spiritual poison
The Prime Mover that decides "What We Are"
Where do our outlooks, attitudes and values come from?
Sin is serious business. The punishment for it is real. Hell is real.
Self-imposed discipline and regimentation
Achieving happiness in life --- a matter of the right strategies
Self-control, self-restraint, self-discipline basic to so much in life