From Whence Cometh Gay Rights? Part 2

If you have not read part 1 of this topic, posted on January 30, I encourage you to do so before going on.  You should see the historical perspective and know how I defined “morality” and “interpersonal relationships.”

Before the Civil War, our country was truly multi-cultural.  States and local governments were allowed wide latitude to democratically establish the standards of morality for their own jurisdictions. With the Civil War states’ rights to self-governance came sharply into question. In a way the issue was slavery, of course, but in another way it was this broader issue of state autonomy to regulate interpersonal relationships. The north won (despite Granny Clampett’s denials) and as part of the resolution of the matter the 14^th Amendment was enacted.  It’s opening paragraph states:

 “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

What did this mean? Given the context, the meaning was clear. Negroes were declared citizens of the United States, and states could not treat them differently than other citizens.  A state could no longer deny them “equal protection of the laws.” By the 14^th Amendment, the U.S. Constitution added a new limit on the states to go along with the “don’t nullify people’s contracts” one. Now each state had “agreed” (via an amendment to the same constitution wherein they agreed to delegate limited powers to the federal government) as a condition of being part of the union to treat all “persons” equally and give them “equal protection.”

This was a great historical step forward, of course. Slavery was such a fundamental evil against humanity that even if a majority of people in a community or state saw slavery as acceptable, the majority should be barred from legislating it. The 14^th amendment was an agreement by the states that the regulation of interpersonal relationships—morality, which might also be defined as what people “ought” and “ought not” do—could not include permitting slavery.

People are naturally self-interested. (I am not digressing here, I promise.) We naturally want our own comfort, our own pleasure, and the world around us arranged in the way that suits us. It also makes us feel better about ourselves if we can get the rest of society to agree with us and affirm our choices. This is part of being human, and is what causes us to interfere with the lives of those around us. Some people are pushier about it than others, but we are all so inclined. Without some outside force to hold us in check, we naturally attempt to impose our will on others.

Remember what Pascal said? Liberty is not possible without morality, nor morality without faith.  To turn the formula around and state it personally: faith is my belief in a supernatural force or consequence that motivates me to restrain my natural desire to impose my will upon others, that is, keeps me moral; and so long as I am moral—don’t force my will on those around me—I won’t need outside forces like laws and policemen to check that natural inclination, thus government can afford me liberty.

No matter what G.K. Chesterton said about them, politicians are people, too. And that is no compliment.  They are fallen like those they purport to govern. Laws are to make people act morally when faith doesn’t accomplish it…but here’s the million dollar question: who or what will keep the lawmakers moral? This is the problem Thomas Jefferson foresaw, of course, when he said:

“In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of con­fidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”

Mischief. That puts it lightly, when we are speaking of the power to dictate the lives of over three hundred million people! The constitution had fairly effectively kept the federal government out of the interpersonal relations business for about a hundred years, but the 14^th Amendment became the chain’s weakest link. It’s perfectly proper purpose and clear language—“all persons” shall be treated as citizens and given equal treatment under the laws—was soon twisted into a door through which monstrous mischief would invade.

We often hear that smaller government is better. It is sort of a cliché and the focus is on “waste” or bureaucracy in what is truly a gargantuan government. But waste and inefficiency are not the most important point.  Think of smaller government this way. Democracy at the lowest level of government is the best sort. As Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute stated it, our founders “had a broad allegiance to…the principle of subsidiarity” that is, “that local government should do only those things that individuals cannot do for themselves, state government should do only those things that local governments cannot do, and the federal government should do only those things that the individual states cannot do.” For good reason, I would submit.

If a township trustee is the swing vote to make a rule that 10 people don’t like, there may well be a new trustee in that seat after the next election, and reversal of the undesirable rule. If a city council enacts an ordinance that offends 100 people, they are likely to be voted out and the ordinance changed by new council members. But the U.S. Senate has to do something that angers millions of people spread statistically among the right states before anyone’s re-election is in jeopardy.

When small government bodies like villages and townships get to set the behavior rules—define morality—for their small jurisdiction, they have to be responsive to their constituents, and if they are not, a relatively small effort of organized constituents will elect more responsive officials. The people will prevent the imposition of the will of government upon them, when even a small number of people feel wrongly imposed upon. In our own community we have seen this first hand with respect to matters like curfews, alcohol licensing, and zoning regulations. You could say that the higher an elected official climbs, say to the U.S. Senate, the more unaccountable he or she is to the will of the people.

This problem is further aggravated by the sheer power wielded in higher office, and the blurring of the connection between causes and effects. The Senate can approve a five hundred million dollar loan to one badly-run company in one township that employs 2,000 people or less, and spread the cost of that loan over the entire country when the badly-run company’s executives disappear with huge severance pay while the company goes belly-up and defaults on the loan.  No Senator gets blamed…but they personally benefit from campaign contributions from those executives. How many voters were harmed? All taxpayers except a select few who were inside the company. How many voters will have to agree on the issue in order to make the Senate regret it? Millions of them. By contrast, what if the money for that loan had been raised at the local level, by City or County officials? They would promptly be ejected for their poor judgment, and their replacements would be much more responsible about how they doled out money!

Next look at the other side of the sheer power. The same Senate that can allocate half a billion dollars to one company (where their friends and supporters will be sure to make it worth the Senators’ while) can also distribute tax credits to half of the population, extend unemployment benefits to millions, and press food stamps into the palms of fifty million Americans. Strategically placed, these benefits can offset the wrath of voters who disapprove of the half billion dollars squandered, and protect the Senators at the next election. (G.K. Chesterton: “It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged.”)

What if all welfare spending in a township (redistribution of wealth) were directly tied to taxes raised in that township? The elected Township trustees would be held closely accountable for whether the welfare was well-spent or wasted.  If such redistribution were done at the local level, either it is a truly good idea with which a majority of the population will agree, or the Township trustees will be tossed out. Democracy at work. You say that in such a small arena a majority would never support that idea? Then why presume that Federal politicians should do on a large scale what real people looking at the needs of their real neighbors would not support as the right moral judgment?

There is another aspect of local welfare that should be considered. If the money was all raised and redistributed locally, the recipients of the help would feel accountable to their neighbors. A recipient who is slothful will feel societal pressure to find work; a recipient who is truly needy beyond their control will feel appreciative to the neighbors who are sacrificing to support them. Contrast that with the feelings the 18,000,000 new-under-the-current-administration food stamp recipients have toward the taxpayers…can’t you just feel them oozing with motivation and gratitude?

So let’s summarize what we’ve been seeing. The more people you can affect by your decisions, the less accountable you become and therefore the more careless, both with money and other tools of power. The legislator is more prone to impose his or her will on others. Aside from how taxes are collected and then doled out, as compared to a Member of Congress, the township trustee is going to be more responsive to the people in setting rules for acceptable ways to treat your fellow man—legislating morality. If most people in the township want to be free to shoot firearms, drive loud cars, drink beer, stay out late at night, sleep around, leave junk cars in their yard, or abandon their children—the township rule-makers will be obliged to listen to the very close and loud voice of democracy. If most people want to enforce marriage vows strictly, punish child abusers, throw public drunks in jail, require clean cars, prohibit pornography, and support their local school system with increased tax dollars, again the local officials in charge had better listen up. By contrast again, you don’t get that feeling from a Senator with a multimillion dollar campaign fund, or a President with a billion dollar one. When rules of morality are set by the smallest possible government bodies, if most people in your community find something perfectly fine that you don’t like, either you are an oddball or you live among oddballs, and in the latter case you would not have to move far to find a place where most people are normal like you.

Which brings me back to my early question: “who or what will keep the lawmakers moral?”  The answer was the people, of course. Our Founders’ commitment to the smallest level of government wielding the greatest power in governing was part of their brilliance. Jefferson, one of the strongest proponents of democracy, was right. Put no confidence in man, but chain them down. We’ve all heard that power corrupts, or as Edmund Burke said, "The greater the power the more dangerous the abuse."

In case you are wondering, yes, we are heading back to the 14^th Amendment. We’ll get right to it in my next post.