Why Do We Have Policies?

Back in the early days of America, policies were favorable to say, individual farmers not so much because of the economic impact of having lots of the small farms, but rather, because it was thought that a nation of small farmers made good citizens.

And they were right. Somehow, woven into the fabric of American society there is still the idea of the self-reliant individual, the entrepreneurial spirit, the do-it-yourself ethic. Sometimes it is misused and foolhardy and obviously not everyone practices it. But our stories of loved ones and people we admire tend to display this spirit and live by it still. And it is the reason for our prosperity - our real prosperity.

Do politicians consider these things anymore? Does anyone?

It strikes me that our policies today serve interests - against other interests. They serve to make someone more prosperous, usually at the expense of someone else. They seek market advantage or redistribution or to buy "stability." But rarely, it seems, do we ask whether our policies ennoble our citizenry, whether our policies even consider making people BETTER and not just "better off."

Why would such an idea be a bad thing? What have policies seeking to make us "better off" actually achieved? They've leveraged us to the hilt and made us all debtors. It's embarrassing. One the one hand we call ourselves the richest country in the world and on the other hand, we can't even pay off our credit card bill. What gives? That's not rich, as I understand rich. It's not even being poor - which just means not be able to afford things. Being in debt isn't not owning things - it is being owned. It is indentured servitude.