Our "Cynical" Society

In a recent letter to the NJ Star-Ledger Readers Forum titled United We Stand, a correspondent named Marvin Bograd opened with:

America is often referred to as the melting pot. Unfortunately, the melting pot has become a kettle boiling over with mistrust and cynicism.

What followed was a list of generalizations not worthy of commentary. But the point about America becoming "a kettle boiling over with mistrust and cynicism" is becoming true. I posted the following comments under my screen name:

zemack June 27, 2012 at 12:48PM

Marvin Bograd, there is a reason America has become a pot “boiling over with mistrust and cynicism,” but it’s not bigotry.

When we created the regulatory redistributionist welfare state, we granted government unlimited, extra-constitutional powers over all areas of our lives. In a representative “democracy,” who ends up exercising that power?—the most politically powerful group-of-the-moment.

The inevitable consequence of this monstrosity we created was the rise of political special interests, each seeking to gain enough momentary control of the legislative process for the purpose of imposing some economic/political scheme on the rest of us by government force.

Look around. We are in the midst of a cold civil war of political pressure groups. We have become a nation of thieves and thugs. Where is the first place we turn to solve every perceived problem? Do we turn to our neighbors with a rational argument seeking agreement by voluntary persuasion? Not any more: Instead, we turn to the government to force our views on our neighbors by law or decree. Respect for the rights of others to disagree and act on their own judgment? Hell, we think enough votes is all we need to justify brute force against those who disagree.

It’s no wonder we’re boiling over with mistrust and suspicion. We've allowed our nation to be transformed from the servant/rights-protecting government of our Founding to an out-of-control rights-violating supreme state. Now, every man-with-a-plan is a threat to everyone else’s lives and wallets. Get a group; lobby the politicians; get a law passed. The predatory state breeds predatory interest groups.

Until we regain an understanding of the supremacy of individual rights, reign in our omnipotent government, and learn to respect the next guy on that basis, we will continue to degenerate into social Darwinism—the law of the jungle.