Nuts and Bolts

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

When we go back to the founding of the United States, the laws were simple and so was the role of government. The federal government was only mandated to protect the borders and assure free trade between the states.

At the state and local level, the responsibilities were safety and security (police and fire protection).

A little later, the idea of public education came along, solely with the intention of educating the voters, not preparing people for employment.

The so-called “Robber Barons” of the late 19th century were able to put the squeeze on the common person to the point that governments, both federal and state, stepped in to, as others have said, “let a little steam out of the kettle.”

Literally, there were going to be violent riots in the streets (Haymarket Riot, 1886; Homestead Strike, 1892; Pullman Strike, 1894) which would continue if something wasn’t done. This morphed into the progressive liberalism of Teddy Roosevelt which has expanded nearly unabated from that day to this.

Today, progressive liberalism knows no bounds. Movements and people of this ilk are literally trying to create heaven on earth.

Everyone has a right to everything, they say. No one is to be offended, denied access, or feel pain.

The cost of this is immaterial, they say, for we have evolved to such a high state that such conditions should be the norm expected by everyone and hang the cost, “we can afford it.”

If you are an agnostic or of some similar persuasion, it seems likely you might find this siren call attractive, if for no other reason than you see this life as your only chance to taste utopia. If you are of a faith that believes in a glorious afterlife, you may still be attracted to such a call through your predisposition to help the downtrodden.

In other words, progressive liberalism has an attractive argument for every one of all persuasions.

It all falls apart in the nut and bolt aisle at my local big box home center. I spend a good deal of time in this aisle, for I am always doing some crazy project around the house requiring the odd fastener.

You have probably been there — neatly organized little bags, costing less than $3 or $4, with two to four nuts and bolts in them. Experience has taught me to check these little containers carefully for tampering. Why? Often they have a discreet hole in them through which one nut or one bolt has been freed and pocketed. Yes, dear reader, people will steal one ¼-20 nut.

And here lies the flaw in the progressive liberals’ agenda. They are trying to build a utopia administered by human beings.

Flawed, greedy, jealous, larcenous human beings.

None of the progressive liberals’ programs has ever cost only what they were promised to cost when proposed (flawed, greedy, jealous, larcenous human beings).

None is administered without a great deal of graft, corruption and thievery (flawed, greedy, jealous, larcenous human beings).

Like other utopian experiments in the past, the ones with which we are saddled today are no better, simply because they were designed by (all together) flawed, greedy, jealous, larcenous human beings.

The only difference is they are on a grander scale and will cause a more calamitous fall than most of their predecessors (Athens; Rome; the Shakers; the British Empire; the Third Reich; USSR; Harmony, Indiana, to name a few).

Further, it seems to me, those of the progressive liberal movement who have the capability of thinking for themselves already know their programs are in trouble.

After all, if everything was going along swimmingly, why would they be blaming political parties long out of power, targeting national pundits with labels they will not allow hung on anyone else, or be constantly on the national stage assuring everyone that in just a little while longer we’ll see how great their programs work?

It is worth noting that the IRS, Social Security, Medicare, and Obamacare were all passed by progressive liberal leaders with progressive liberal majorities in Congress. They are the ones who promised us an unqualified heaven if we would only go along. We did.

If all these programs foisted on us in the past actually worked as promised, we would already be in this heaven. A quiet, pastoral heaven where Congress could be permanently dismissed and we all played happily ever after in the tall, bug-and-snake-free grass.

A place where everyone’s favorite sports team won every ball game.

If it weren’t for that darn nut and bolt aisle.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga., following decades of wandering the world, and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.