Crisis Management

In my previous column I explored some of the ways that government either creates a crisis or makes it worse. Government by its very nature always seeks to grow larger….similar to water always seeking its own level. So, when you merge the natural inclination of government with an ideological mindset that believes that government is the source of all that is good, wise and compassionate, you are facing an entity with an insatiable appetite for power and control. Clearly, the first line of defense against the monster is to prevent the election of those who have the ideological bent for an all-encompassing governmental apparatus. So far for the past 100 years or so, the voters of the United States have not been as diligent as they should be when electing their leaders. In fact, it appears that U.S. voters prefer the Nanny State and the corresponding loss of freedom. Of all the crises that we face today, the mindset of a large portion of the voting populace may be the most destructive and difficult to overcome.

While we do indeed have politicians who are wedded to big government solutions and the attendant power that accompanies them, they would not succeed in their election races if the people in their districts were not enamored with large government and the benefits that they reap from other people’s money. Indeed, the primary beneficiaries of the government goodie game are the most powerful impetus for our current fiscal situation. If the people were unanimously committed to small constitutional government, that is what we would have. Our leaders are followers and will flow to where the votes are. The fact that a significant portion of our populace belongs to the looter class has resulted in a political class determined to satisfy them. The looters have captured the power and force of government to coerce the producers, undermine liberty and violate the sacred nature of personal property. One of obvious management devices for the fiscal crisis is to correct or neutralize the moral crisis. When one capable person expects to live and benefit from the labor of others, the policy crisis arises from the immorality of the recipient’s expectations and the government’s willingness to loot the producer.

The most effective management tool for averting a crisis is to anticipate it. A preemptive move to mitigate the danger can transform a potentially dangerous situation into a nearly routine action.  So how do we translate this precept into the political and governmental realm?  As Thomas Jefferson warned,” the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” We cannot do as we have done before. We cannot cavalierly select our political class and hope that they will be true guardians of our liberty. We definitely cannot elect and continually re-elect those who have failed their fiduciary responsibility to protect and defend the liberty of the citizens. We cannot return politicians who legislate or administer without regard for the integrity of the nation….no matter what they claim as justification for overspending or overreaching actions by government. We cannot persist in supporting candidates who insist on banging the drums of war against every tin pot despot on the planet. Our border security, our national defense, our fiscal obligations and our valuable young men and women are too important for adventurous politicians to squander. If any politician at any time violates these understandings or the oath of office, their political careers should end. Vigilant voters should call them out and vote them out.

Historically, our management of crises has been to elect the political class and step aside while expecting them to operate the government with honor. They have failed…miserably, and we have failed by providing minimal oversight. Crisis aversion is the best form of crisis management. Certainly not every crisis can be preempted or averted, but diligent public servants who take their oaths seriously can minimize the kinds of manufactured crises that we have experienced for much of the last century. When citizens begin to understand that most of our crises were the result of government’s incompetence, inattention or cowardice, we can begin to send people to represent us who are responsible and accountable. Managing a crisis begins with the proper manager and continues with the proper strategy to minimize the crisis before it becomes too large. As Woody Hayes often said, “You win with people.” We have been too lazy to select winners. We have elected self-serving, job-protecting place-holders who have allowed our country to slide into the abyss while we have been willfully distracted.

Time’s up. As citizens we can no longer afford to blissfully trip through life and hand the keys of control to career politicians who lack the courage and the wisdom to preserve our republic and our liberty. The new model for crisis management involves our individual and collective commitments to holding our representatives accountable….for every vote, every day. We cannot risk waiting for two- or four-year cycles to suddenly awaken and analyze the records of our “public servants.” Their jobs, their positions should be at risk from the moment they first take their oaths of office. We must avoid the risk, and we must manage our own affairs.

Comment:   cearlwriting@hotmail.com      or   www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Crisis Creation

If you have been on this Earth for any significant time, you have probably and painfully learned that there is a difference between thoughtful consideration and procrastination. Dithering does not qualify as deliberation. Certainly prudence demands that we examine our options to determine which one will yield the most favorable outcome. Undoubtedly you are familiar with the term, “paralysis by analysis,” wherein over-examination of a difficult decision leads to a failure to act or respond. These scenarios are common for most of us, and we recognize the pitfalls that arise because of our inability to respond. These are some of the rules of life, but in certain quarters the rules are suspended. Take career politicians for example.

Most professional politicians suffer from an aversion to critical decision making. As you know, on an issue that is prominent and divided, the politician risks annoying or infuriating a large portion of his constituents no matter how she or he may vote. As a result, many crises in our affairs of state arise because of the career politicians’ refusal to deal with an issue promptly and forthrightly.  Issues become problems that beget crises that cause nervous handwringing and intense arm twisting. Generally, the politician succumbs to expediency and meekly follows the leadership to a minimalist response to the moment to escape the volcanic wrath of the electorate. Thus, the “can” of concern is kicked further down the road only to rise again at a later time with consequences far greater.

Abscessed characters and absences of integrity are too common among the careerist political class. The most self-centered among them weigh every decision on the scales of electoral expediency. In some respects the self-serving types are preferable to the indecisive cowards because their positions are so predictable. Whatever vote or pledge has the greatest potential for maintaining or advancing the politician’s career is the one that is taken or cast. The concept of a principled vote or position is alien to the class of politician who is consumed by opportunism. It is the expedient politician who has helped to elevate his class on a par with used car salesmen and snake oil peddlers in the popular views of the people.

Another factor besides the personalities and preferences of the politicians for the sense of crisis that seems pervasive is the sheer size of government…at all levels. Their consistent expansion and overreaching for the past century has resulted in bloated monstrosities that are ineffective and impossible to manage. Factor in the overlap and redundancy elements of many governments, and we often find ourselves in crisis mode because of competing bureaucracies or sectors of interest that are unaddressed because the various bureaucracies remain stuck in “turf-protection” gear. Large sluggish enterprises are inefficient and ineffective. Large public sector institutions are much worse than their private sector cohorts because it is nearly impossible to dismiss incompetent or lazy workers. So the massive organizational structure of government is a primary contributor to the frequency of crises in our public discourse.  Government agencies often overreach and frequently under perform. Either of those response modes could germinate a crisis.

Closely associated with the unrestrained growth of government is its insatiable need for operating funds. With Big Brother and Nanny State gobbling more control of our lives and our commerce, the financial requirements escalate. So, it seems there is a constant crisis for funding…at all levels of government. Their incestuous relationships and complex network of grants and mandates place an increasing financial burden on the taxpayers. When the bureaucrats and political class decide that additional funding is required, they claim that a crisis is imminent, and the funds are vital for averting a catastrophe.

There are two aspects of crisis that may not have so large of a domestic human component in the chain of causation..…attack by foreign entities and a natural or commercial disaster. Time and again our government’s response to a provocation or natural disruption has been too little, too late. Often when lives were saved, it was the heroic actions of individuals---some from the public sector and others just ordinary citizens—whose actions were the most helpful and effective. We may never know what involvement government had in the generating of the crises, if any, because of foreign policy, the inadequate construction and repair of levees, unrealistic environmental restrictions that limit the building of water-breaks and dams. The point is that people, local people, respond more quickly and effectively in many cases than does the government-controlled response agency. Does the memory of thousands of unused FEMA trailers for the Gulf Coast ring a bell? Many of those trailers were sources of breathing problems because the gaseous releases from the interiors….typical.

In every crisis for the nation, governments play an instrumental role. Sometimes government’s failure to act initiates the problem or makes it worse. On other occasions government’s response is inadequate or inappropriate and may exacerbate the problem. Finally some issues may be precipitated by government so as to assume more power and control over the population. In summary, big government and crisis appear to be synonymous. Friends, we have a crisis, and as Rahm Emanuel advises “we should not let a crisis go to waste.” Continue putting the heat on them, jump on your pony, Patriot, and let’s get control of this monstrosity.

Comment:   cearlwriting@hotmail.com      or      www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Robin Hood

Robin Hood dresses oddly, and he’s a thief. That’s not all bad, however, because many of his most blatant thefts involved stealing tax money from the authorities and returning it to the struggling citizens of Nottinghamshire. Robin of Loxley became the nemesis of the Sheriff of Nottingham who represented King John in the shire. Robin’s daring feats drove the sheriff to distraction as Robin and his band of Merry Men accosted nobles, corrupt clergymen and tax collectors in their efforts to undo the oppressive taxation implemented by King John in the absence of his brother, Richard the Lionhearted.

It is unfortunate that so many of our present-day career politicians fancy themselves as reincarnated versions of the savvy robber of Sherwood Forest. They perceive that their primary purpose is to rob from the ‘rich” and redistribute wealth to the “poor.” Instead of Little John, Will Scarlet, Friar Tuck and a band of Merry Men, they utilize the power and force of the IRS to aid them with their nefarious schemes. The politicians conveniently overlook the fact that Robin Hood was opposed to the excessive taxation of King John and his stooge, the Sheriff.

The political elites of our time have perverted the mission of Robin Hood just as they have distorted or ignored the Constitution of the United States. Distortion and perversion are the modus operandi of the political class in today’s America. “Cuts” are not cuts in spending, but are merely slowing growth for the future. “Fairness” is not fair or just, but is code for taxing producers more than non-productive people. “Revenue expenses” are legitimate tax incentives given by Congress for certain performances or productive sectors. Enhancements and encouragements are used to benefit certain politically favored or politically-correct industries or companies. Robin Hood spoke medieval English, but our political masters have devised a language of their own that masks their true intent.

Robin Hood was attired in forest green tights, leather tunic and a cock sure cap with a pheasant feather. His modern day wannabe’s wear pin-striped suits and red power-ties. The zesty robber of olden times dressed like the people of the forest, but his modern-day self-defined companions are attired in a fashion that more closely resembles that of the elite upper rulers of the realm. Robin was comfortable among the common people and the peasants of his time, but our current Robber Hoods ignore the people by legislating and regulating against their wishes. Robin didn’t wear shirts that required cuff links, and he lived in the forest among the people.

The Merry Men would lie in the trees and wait for their unwary prey to arrive, but the political elites and statists lie in the weeds and prey on the unwitting citizens as they confiscate their labor, property and freedom. Instead of cudgels and arrows, the robbers of today use laws and regulations to force the people to yield to their malevolent designs. While the band of thieves in the forest would unleash a mass of arrows to overwhelm their targets, the current crop of political plunderers create an oppressive number of laws, rules and regulations that assure nearly every citizen will be non-compliant and subject to government sanctions. Colin Powell’s doctrine of overwhelming force has been perfected by the power-hungry politicians as they seek to restrain the people from exercising their liberty. We are surrounded by government edicts making it nearly impossible to live our lives without violating some obscure requirement.

The story of Robin Hood includes his relationship with the lovely Maid Marian. It is unclear whether or not they were romantically involved, but Robin was steadfast in his efforts to protect her, and she reciprocated just as vigorously. Today’s career politicians while fancying themselves as noble Robin Hoods are more accurately defined as “Made Miserable.” The romantic interest of their distorted notions about the defender of the people is their love for adding misery to our lives while professing to make things better. Once again, they have proven that they are delusional liars by their unceasing efforts to consume our wealth, confiscate our property and constrain our liberty by promising to do “more” for (to) us.

Robin of Loxley fought to right the wrongs of an out of control government. He understood the harm that arises from overburdening taxation and sought to provide relief for the people who were victimized by the Crown and its venal agents. Robin also recognized that fair legitimate government is to be nourished and protected, thus he remained loyal to King Richard while battling the King’s evil brother. To paraphrase a famous statement from the late Senator Lloyd Bentsen:

“Career politician, I knew Robin Hood. He was a friend of mine. He fought tyranny and oppressive big government, and you are no Robin Hood.”

Our loathsome careerists in government seek to take from all in order to redistribute and buy the votes of many. The time has come for liberty-loving people to strike back and recapture the shire and the kingdom for all people who love freedom.

Comment:    cearlwriting@hotmail.com       or     www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com