The Solution to Big Government is Not Anarchy

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18th, 1787, as Mr. Benjamin Franklin emerged from “Independence Hall”, a Mrs. Powell approached and asked, “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Dr. Franklin quickly replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

Unfortunately fellow readers, we did not heed Dr. Franklin’s warning, and in the distracted haste of modern life, we lost our beloved Republic to the plutocratic oligarchs and their brand of corporatist democracy.

It is not difficult to look around and conclude that we are living through some very strange and troubling times. We have become a nation that allowed President Bush & Company to successfully legalize torture¹. A nation which gave little to no pause as the Federal government expanded the surveillance apparatus, wholly gutting the remnants of the 4th Amendment². Moreover, by abdicating our responsibility to demand both a Declaration of War, and justification thereof, we have become a nation willing to embrace the perverse notion of preemptive war vis-a-vi, the Bush Doctrine³.

With every opening bell on Wall Street, we see a continuous line of failed pseudo-capitalists all too eager to stick their corrupt slime ridden hands into the T.A.R.P. bailout money. Money coerced from the paychecks of ‘We the People’, doled out as corporate welfare to the politically connected. We are bearing witness to the dawn of another economic depression, caused wholly by mismanagement of monetary policy and governance by the central planners of state.

However, even with the hand of oppression attempting to asphyxiate the natural sustenance of liberty, the answer my fellow readers is not anarchy. Both tyranny and anarchy are extreme belief structures residing on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Whereby tyrannical oligarchs demand absolute rule and control over every aspect of the people, anarchy proves to be no less tyrannical in its end result. Throughout history the ensuing chaos brought on by revolutionary anarchists always leads to the emergence of a new tyrant.

For example, immediately following the French Revolution, the lawlessness that ensued birthed what became to be known as “The Reign of Terror”. During this time between 20,000 and 40,000 French citizens were executed as “enemies of the revolution”. The bulk of the executions were exacted upon the working class, with many found guilty of hoarding food and supplies.⁴

As a secondary example, we can look to the Russian Revolutions of 1917. The first began in March of 1917, which saw Czar Nicolas the II resign after massive civil unrest. Shortly thereafter anarchy ensued, but by Summer the anarchists had formed factions and in turn set up a provisional government. However being self-appointed, power struggles between the factions led to continued violence. By October of the same year, the Bolshevik faction called for an open revolt, and again violence spread across Russia. The Bolsheviks emerged as the successful faction and with Lenin as their leader, immediately began implementing their philosophy of socialist communism on all of the people of Russia.⁵

It could also be said, that our own Republic, had it not been under the wise guidance of the Founding Fathers, could have easily disintegrated into anarchy following the Revolution. The debate which took place in Philadelphia during the sweltering Summer of 1787 resulted in the creation of a system of delicate checks and balances. A system of governance divided amongst a weak central authority and the constituent political units, i.e. the several states. The Founders knew all too well the natural tendency of government was to gain and encroach upon liberty, but they also knew that leaving the tenuous union under the sole guidance of the Articles of Confederation, would lead to disparate factions. Which in the end stood the good chance of wholly squandering the principles of the American Revolution.

We need not reinvent the wheel to save our country. We need not jettison the sacrifices of the Founding generation for utter lawlessness, only to then teeter-totter back into tyrannical despotism.  We need only restore the Constitution to its foundation upon Federalism, in order to set our Republic back onto the path towards a more perfect union.

Thus in conclusion, it can be said that anarchy is simply an antithetic knee jerk reaction to tyrannical oppression; or perhaps a transitional bridge from one dictator to another, but it cannot and should not be said to be a legitimate solution.

Source(s): ¹Working Group Report on Detainee Interrogations in the Global War on Terrorism: Assessment of Legal, Historical, Policy, and Operational Considerations • ² Washington Post “Obama Defends Compromise on New FISA Bill” • ³ New York Times “Editorial Observer; President Bush and the Middle East Axis of Ambiguity” • ⁴ “Reign of Terror – 1793-1794″ by: Wilfred Brenton Kerr (1985) London: Porcupine Press • ⁵ “The Class Struggle” Vol.I, No.4, November-December 1917