The recent Supreme Court session has returned more power to the people, either directly or through their elected representatives, than any court in recent history. Yet judging by many comments regarding the courts actions you would think that the collapse of civilization is nigh.
It seems to me that there is a large segment of our population that wants to be told what they can do and when they can do it by a president and the unelected drones of the bureaucracy. Of course some of these edicts are in the form of 'permissions' as well and who doesn't like 'permissions'? In other words they seem to prefer a dictatorship of sorts, as long as it's 'their' dictator.
Being a citizen of a nation of self-governing people is difficult. It requires effort and eternal vigilance lest the citizen find themselves enslaved by the very government they are supposed to control. It's far easier to cede that control to a centralized power thus absolving the citizen of any responsibility. Things not going so well in your life? Well now, it's the presidents fault. The individual doesn't have to take any responsibility for the consequences of the decisions they make.
It is true that a dictatorship (or absolute Monarchy) is the most efficient form of government known to man and a benevolent dictatorship is the preferable form of that type of government. The problem is the dictator dies, is assassinated, or by some other means removed from power and you are never quite certain how the new dictator is going to govern. Good, bad, or indifferent you're stuck with the SOB.
In a representative democracy and/or a federal republic the citizens have to argue their points and make their case to the general public, who gets to make the final decision at the polls. That takes time and effort, time and effort that, it seems, a large portion of our citizens just can't be bothered with.
Going forward it's going to be quite interesting to see what the public does with the freedoms and powers that have been returned to them.
It seems to me that there is a large segment of our population that wants to be told what they can do and when they can do it by a president and the unelected drones of the bureaucracy. Of course some of these edicts are in the form of 'permissions' as well and who doesn't like 'permissions'? In other words they seem to prefer a dictatorship of sorts, as long as it's 'their' dictator.
Being a citizen of a nation of self-governing people is difficult. It requires effort and eternal vigilance lest the citizen find themselves enslaved by the very government they are supposed to control. It's far easier to cede that control to a centralized power thus absolving the citizen of any responsibility. Things not going so well in your life? Well now, it's the presidents fault. The individual doesn't have to take any responsibility for the consequences of the decisions they make.
It is true that a dictatorship (or absolute Monarchy) is the most efficient form of government known to man and a benevolent dictatorship is the preferable form of that type of government. The problem is the dictator dies, is assassinated, or by some other means removed from power and you are never quite certain how the new dictator is going to govern. Good, bad, or indifferent you're stuck with the SOB.
In a representative democracy and/or a federal republic the citizens have to argue their points and make their case to the general public, who gets to make the final decision at the polls. That takes time and effort, time and effort that, it seems, a large portion of our citizens just can't be bothered with.
Going forward it's going to be quite interesting to see what the public does with the freedoms and powers that have been returned to them.
