American dream is fading. And that’s a damned shame.

The ‘Social Contract’ is a Fraud
So said a headline I recently read – and that idea resonated with me.
The concept of a "social contract" is one of the bedrock ideas of modern political science. Supposedly we the governed have consented to create a Limited Government that is supposed to serve us; fine theory, of course. We wrote a document – the Constitution – some 225 years ago that balanced the branches of government, working together to strictly limit the powers of the Federal government. But the workings of history and the layers of law, administration and bureaucracy have all worked to erode the fine-tuned balance of powers our Founders of these United States envisioned.
Government has grown to be over-bearing and increasingly oppressive on our country. And life in this country increasingly demonstrates the result: moribund economy, heavy unemployment, little business investment for the future, misguided Executive branch, dithering Congress, capricious courts.
The American dream is faltering and fading. And that’s a damned shame.
The reality of government in the 21st century is that it is off the tracks, serving less and oppressing more; it methodically grasps for more of the income pie every year; it presumes that government at the Federal level can solve problems that government at lesser levels cannot (when the reality is that power consolidated and focused at the Federal level can IMPOSE solutions on all more easily than by selling a course of action to many smaller governmental units); it institutes programs supposed to solve certain stated problems which then fail to do so, but achieve other aims deemed desirable by the ruling elite, so they are kept in place indefinitely and without any review.
It has created a group of political careerists that reaches for and achieve power, through election or through "civil service" structures – but never releases it, for its fundamental imperative is to stay in office and therefore in power. So they live from election to election, gathering influence and resources to achieve re-election rather than doing the people’s business. They grow rich in Office by voting themselves salaries and benefits far beyond what people on the "outside" can
earn or qualify for – a sure sign of imbalance between public and private zones of life.
Perhaps worst of all, they do a lousy job of what they do! Good problem-solving requires searching for all the facts, eliminating the spurious ones, thus understanding the true nature of the difficulty, then deciding which level of government is most likely to truly be able to solve the problem, finally developing a political consensus across the spectrum to support and institute a
solution – and then, and only then, actually doing something about when appropriate. It is a complex, intricate process requiring great skill; one can think of those who have done it in our history: Washington, Jefferson, Webster, Lincoln, TR Roosevelt, etc. And we can list many more who tried and failed, including almost all the current holders of federal office!
It has to be said that this sort of effort is much too big a risk for our current batch of careerists; they don’t want to do all this hard work! Rather, they want to pontificate while dressed up for 30 seconds of national TV exposure on issue after issue – then kick the can down the road a ways for someone else to deal with the real problems. So Medicare, Social Security, pension liabilities, fiscal responsibility, and, yes, even, a true federal budget, wait for solutions – while we totter toward the dangerous edge of the precipice.
In short, government no longer "serves." It dominates, manipulates and, at worst, oppresses – and does so irresponsibly. And the American Dream falters and fades.

The Insolvent Phantom Democracy

"All Together, Let’s Like Ike" declares the editorial in the bi-monthly AARP bulletin.
In the interest of full disclosure, I don’t like AARP. Perhaps it is because of their blatant efforts on behalf of their very nominal members, lobbying for increased benefits of all sorts without offering any real means of paying for them. After all, anyone older than 55 or so can belong for a few dollars a year. But like most of their millions of members, we have found affiliation useful when we travel, since members enjoy cheaper motel and hotel rates, etc., so we maintain membership. You could say we serve practicality rather than principle, I suppose!
So I greet the Bulletin in the mailbox with skepticism.
But: the current issue is an exception. Editor Jim Toedtman has an appreciation of the statesmanship and vision of President Dwight D. Eisenhower – and points out that our generation suffers badly by comparison.
Here’s a sample of Mr. Toedtman’s comments:
“… Eisenhower ...  found a way to persuade the public and Democrats in Congress that military excesses must be capped and that the nation’s civil rights, education and transportation needed urgent attention.”
So Ike began the civil rights march that would mature under LBJ; Ike built the interstate highway system, and found a fair and equitable way to finance its construction as it was built over the next 25 years or so (no massive debt). And he pushed the needs of education across the nation forward on the national agenda as well.
But there’s more, Toedtman tells us: “In his nationally televised farewell address, he shared his vision: "As we peer into society’s future, we … must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.’”
Wow! I didn’t remember Ike being that concise and well-spoken! In fact, I remember him splitting infinitives, throwing in parenthetical statements, and generally muddling about in his speeches. (I also remember one of his biographers putting forward the idea that Ike was much more intelligent than he ever let on, that his muddling way of speaking was in fact the camouflage of a very sly fox. Perhaps so …)
But we need to remember these words:
“We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the INSOLVENT PHANTOM of tomorrow.”
That thought should be engraved in bronze and placed in every prominent spot in the White House and the halls of Congress! Our current leadership is scandalous in this respect: They never face the issues squarely; they find borrowing politically expedient; they are miserable leaders with no vision! They will be chastised, even scourged, by the generation of Americans to come! Perhaps they will – like the English of old – dig up and scatter the bones of the current Congress!
For they ARE eating the nation’s seed corn!