“Children of The
Beast”
By Sam Sewell
Introduction
"The
average man doesn't want to be free. He wants to be safe." H.L. Mencken
Most people see the
conflict between limited government and big government as a political battle
between conservatives and liberals. This
conflict is much more profound than political theory can encompass.
In this essay the metaphor
of “The Beast” is used to represent big government and “Children of The Beast”
to reveal the nature of those who support or are dependent upon big government.
My analysis is offered in
two sections:
- The
inherent inefficiency and inertia of large, complex entities
- The
inherent evil of large, complex entities
“The Beast” is too big to be responsive to
human will
“This system is like a steamroller
with an unresponsive steering wheel; no matter who is in the driver’s seat it
continues to crush the people.”
Aristotle
The Hun
At every
level of life we recognize that the more complicated any system becomes the
less efficient its function. Complicated systems overwhelm the people who
participate in them.
For example,
let’s look at people and their possessions.
Most of us have made the observation that as we accumulate “things”
there comes a time when our things own us, rather than us owning our
things. My wife has created a system
that prevents her closet from taking over our house. She will not put a new piece of clothing into
her closet unless she eliminates something that is already there.
Many
businesses have a similar policy. In
addition to not adding a new policy without eliminating an outdated policy, managers
do a periodic analysis of the existing bureaucracy to determine what paperwork
and procedures need to be eliminated.
Governments
do not implement similar solutions. Most
government programs have a constituency of voters who will object to “their”
special interest program being eliminated, resulting in a system that
eventually overwhelms the citizens. Not
only are government agencies inefficient, they often produce “schizophrenic”
results, like attempts to reduce the use of tobacco at the same time that
tobacco growers are receiving government subsidies.
This not just
a modern problem! The same dynamics were
present in large systems thousands of years ago. Bureaucratic inertia was as
much a cause for the fall of the Roman Empire as barbarians at the gates. The ancient Jews had a solution to the
problem that has escaped the attention of leaders of modern government systems.
"This fiftieth year is sacred—it is a
time of freedom and of celebration, when everyone will receive back their
original property, and slaves will return home to their families. " Leviticus 25:10
Every fifty years all
debts were cancelled, all slaves were freed, and all land was returned to the
ancestral owners. There were several
other provisions associated with the Year of Jubilee. This religious tradition was
a way for an entire culture to be reset or “rebooted” in order to wipe out the
accumulated bureaucratic inertia. We
modern people can “defrag” our computers but we don’t know how to “defrag” our
federal government.
The problems associated
with complex systems are not unique to the government of the United
States. In fact the founding fathers who
created the Constitution built in some safeguards because they were already
aware of the problem. The 10th
Amendment is one of those attempts to curtail the unrelenting tendency of
government to grow into a curse upon free men and women.
“The powers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to
the States respectively, or to the people.”
This Constitutional
Amendment was intended to restrict the power and size of the federal
government. Over the decades the federal
government has steadily centralized its power, while the 10th
amendment has been mostly ignored.
For example, if the
10th amendment were respected, the Federal Environmental Protection
Agency would cease to exist, and individual state agencies would protect the
environment of each state. Also, the Federal
Department of Education would be eliminated, and local school boards would set the
standards and supervise the education in each individual community.
As you might suspect ““The
Beast”” and “The “Children of The Beast”” are adamantly opposed to such
corrections.
It is a fundamental truth that all
systems grow to the point where their internal inertia causes them to
fail. So it is clear that we are
struggling with dynamics more profound than modern politics in the United
States. These dynamics are rooted into
the very nature of reality, and even show up in complicated systems of the
physical world of engineering and physics.
The more complex the system the less efficient and more unwieldy it
becomes.
“The Beast” That Was, and Is Not, and Yet Is
(Revelation 17:8)
Now, there is a riddle for you! I remember a speech I heard by the flamboyant
trial attorney, Gerry Spence. He said,
“I had a very successful career working for corporations and the government. I won every case that went to trial. Then I became aware that I was working for
virtual, non-human entities that had no actual existence. My clients were artificial abstract
‘creatures’ whose only claim on reality was a concept or a contract defined by
the laws of man. I also noticed that
when I won a case for a corporation or the government that real live human
beings, with blood pumping through their veins and breath moving in and out of
their lungs, were victimized by the ‘non-breathers.’ That is when I vowed to never have another
non-breathing client for the rest of my career.
If you can’t fog up a cold mirror with your breath, I will not be your
attorney.”
I think Gerry Spence solved the above riddle. If it doesn’t breathe, it is “The
Beast”. If “The Beast” serves human
needs it should be domesticated, cared for, and kept on a tight rein. If “The Beast” intimidates human beings and
expects the humans to serve It, the time has come to bring out the cattle prods
and force ““The Beast”” back into submission.
Metaphorically, American citizens are struggling with “The Beast”
that has forgotten who is serving whom. I wonder if the right to bear arms
includes cattle prods. J
Our elected leaders are expected to accept the responsibility
of controlling “The Beast.” Why do you
think the Constitution has all those phrases, “The government shall not -”?
If our elected leaders begin serving “The Beast” it becomes
the responsibility of each individual citizen to ensure “The Beast” is properly
subordinated to we the people. Many of
our elected leaders are “Children of The Beast.” Many of our citizens have become “Children of
The Beast.” They worship the glory and
the power of “The Beast,” they accept gifts from “The Beast,” and they become
dependent upon “The Beast.”
Why are there so many “Children of the Beast”?
What is the
human motivation that allows people to overlook the dangers of “The Beast” and
choose a politician for his charming personality traits, rather than donning
the warrior spirit capable of subduing “The Beast?” A partial answer to
that question was provided by Erich Fromm in his book “Escape from Freedom.”
He moved from Germany to the United States in 1938, giving witness to
his love of freedom. Freud thought human
personality was determined by conditioning having an effect on biology. Marx
saw peoples’ lives as determined by their society and economic systems.
Erich Fromm challenged these two reigning intellectual systems of his
time with the idea of freedom.
Fromm
originally wrote “Escape from Freedom” in 1941 to explore the psychological
reasons for the success of Nazism in Germany. If one were to pair this Fromm
classic with Eric Hoffer’s 1951 bestseller “The True Believer,” a rich
understanding of human political behavior would emerge. Fromm makes freedom of the individual a central characteristic
of human nature! Hoffer documents the evil that is endemic to mass
movements.
A
little bit of history is required to understand this. One example of lack
of individual freedom is represented by animals, as well as by humans who have
not transcended their animal nature and are still controlled by a Freudian
biological determinism. Animals and unenlightened humans don't worry
about freedom; instincts and conditioning are the determining factors.
Such life forms accept what life offers, and mostly adjust to whatever
reality they inhabit.
An
example of political and economic lack of individual freedom is the
pre-renaissance feudal society of the middle ages. Personal freedom was
not conceivable for most people in the middle ages. Basically, if your
father was a peasant, you'd be a peasant. If your father was a king, you would
become a king.
So
for most of human history there was very little individual freedom and there
were very few mass movements. This simple life began to be
transformed when people started to see individual humans as being important to
the universal scheme of things. First came the Renaissance, and then came
the Reformation which introduced the idea of each of us being individually
responsible for our own soul's salvation behind the rallying cry “Every man his
own Priest.” And then came the democratic revolutions and overthrow of kings.
Now
we expected to govern ourselves, and we all had a hand in determining our
destiny and making collective policy! So the idea of the individual, with
individual thoughts, decision-making authority, personal emotions, moral
conscience, freedom, and intimidating responsibility came into being. But with
individuality came isolation, alienation, and bewilderment. Freedom is a
difficult thing to have, and Fromm believed that when they can, the
unenlightened man tends to flee from it. Escaping from freedom is now an
important motivating factor of our species. Because the need to escape
from individual freedom emerged in human consciousness, mass movements began to
appear in human society. Fromm sheds light on the dynamics with these two
quotes:
"The person who gives up his
individual self and becomes an automaton, identical with millions of other
automatons around him, need not feel alone and anxious any more. The price he
pays, however, is high; it is the loss of his self."
"This loss of identity then makes
it still more imperative to conform, it means that one can be sure of oneself
only if one lives up to the expectations of others. If we do not live up to
this picture, we not only risk disapproval and increased isolation, but we risk
losing the identity of our personality, which means jeopardizing sanity."
Erich Fromm can tell us a lot about what is behind how most people vote. He makes the point that most people are terrified of being an on-their-own, take-care-of-themselves, free, adult human being. So, we attach ourselves to surrogate family units and surrogate parents to escape from our freedom. That translates into belonging to and becoming psychologically and physically dependant organizations as diverse as the company for whom we work and our boss, to the church we attend and our pastor, and the political party to which we belong and the parent figure who gets our vote. Identifying with the group becomes our new collective identity, and we surrender our individual identity and freedom.
Ask any pastor, teacher, psychotherapist, supervisor, or elected official and they will be happy to confirm that the people they deal with are all trying to work out their childhood agendas on any available authority figure.
Some of us want a ‘sugar daddy’ and a ‘sugar family’ to take care of us, so we cede our personal power and freedom to this Democratic Parent and Party who promises to provide life’s necessities and define reality for us. The details of politics and policy positions pale into insignificance when compared to the need to escape from personal freedom and responsibility.
Some of us want a ‘strong daddy’ who will protect us from danger and who expects us to be strong as well, so we vote for a Republican Parent and Party. We need to belong to a strong family with a strong leader, so we will feel safe. And once again, the details don’t really matter that much.
No matter for whom we are voting, we are choosing our kind of family, and our kind of parent. Most folks choose the candidate for the qualities they want that will fill their psychological needs. The issues aren’t nearly as important as the personal evaluation of the person’s character. If they like the person and trust that candidate to be “their kind of parent,” they will make that selection. Most people are not aware of the dangers of “The Beast,” and our collective duty to subdue “The Beast,” so they elect a leader who meets their personal needs.
Obama
isn't mature enough to inspire parental psychological needs. Obama is more like
the overly friendly stranger with ice cream to offer if you will get into his
windowless van. The quasi-religious mass movement that is driving
his presidency will likely falter because of weak faith. However, Obama
has a potent, short term advantage: It's all about the Ice
Cream ..... But don’t get the idea that the Republicans
are free of the influence of The Beast.
No matter their party persuasion, those involved in politics are mostly
“Children of The Beast.”
Conclusion: Some voters still embrace their personal freedom, and the responsibility that comes along with it. They study the issues, and they vote on the issues. They know the nature of “The Beast” and they live up to their duty to tame “The Beast.” But sadly, they are a distinct minority. Don’t expect people to vote on issues. They seldom do. My guess is that more people will vote on how the candidate looks than on what the candidate believes. They vote for whoever meets their personal, psychological needs. And “The Beast” will continue to rule until the citizens are all armed with cattle prods.
Conclusion: Some voters still embrace their personal freedom, and the responsibility that comes along with it. They study the issues, and they vote on the issues. They know the nature of “The Beast” and they live up to their duty to tame “The Beast.” But sadly, they are a distinct minority. Don’t expect people to vote on issues. They seldom do. My guess is that more people will vote on how the candidate looks than on what the candidate believes. They vote for whoever meets their personal, psychological needs. And “The Beast” will continue to rule until the citizens are all armed with cattle prods.
Rev. Sam Sewell
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