Month: April 2008

Federalist No. 9

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Federalist No. 9 can be almost completely reduced to this extended quote by Montesquieu:

a CONFEDERATE REPUBLIC. . . is a convention by which several smaller STATES agree to become members of a larger ONE, which they intend to form. It is a kind of assemblage of societies that constitute a new one, capable of increasing, by means of new associations, till they arrive to such a degree of power as to be able to provide for the security of the united body. . .

The form of this society prevents all manner of inconveniences.

If a single member should attempt to usurp the supreme authority, he could not be supposed to have an equal authority and credit in all the confederate states. Were he to have too great influence over one, this would alarm the rest. Were he to subdue a part, that which would still remain free might oppose him with forces independent of those which he had usurped and overpower him before he could be settled in his usurpation.

Should a popular insurrection happen in one of the confederate states the others are able to quell it. Should abuses creep into one part, they are reformed by those that remain sound. The state may be destroyed on one side, and not on the other; the confederacy may be dissolved, and the confederates preserve their sovereignty. (“Spirit of Lawa,” vol. i., book ix., chap. i.)

Ever since the United States made the transition from being a plural noun (ex. “the United States are . . .”) to being a singular noun (ex. “the United States is . . .”) it seems that the individual sovereignty and identity of the states is becoming more of a formality than a reality. Contrary to the argument made in Federalist 9, I am not convinced that “So long as the separate organization of the members be not abolished; so long as it exists, by a constitutional necessity, for local purposes; though it should be in perfect subordination to the general authority of the union, it would still be, in fact and in theory, an association of states, or a confederacy.”

It seems that the last half century or more have shown that when the states become fully subordinate to the federal government the balancing of interests that are present in a confederacy are minimized and the Federal authority begins to act more like a monarchy with an ever-changing head.

Tags documents, federalist

culture

Government is a Tool

LaVarr Webb asks Utah Policy readers if they think government is always a necessary evil or if it can be a force for good. Since my answer to that question goes directly to the heart of what my blog is about I thought I’d share my answer here.

Government is not always necessary (an isolated group of people who were respectful of each other would not need any government – if it were possible to be really isolated anymore), and it is certainly not always evil. Can it be a force for good? The answer depends on what you mean by “force.” It is not possible to force people to be good so when government is being used to force people to act a certain way then you can be sure that it is not good.

Government, like any tool, is good so long as it is being used for its proper purpose. The purpose of government is to protect individual rights. Once people start using government as a force to mandate the will of the majority on the minority, or even the will of the minority on the majority, then government is not good. Unfortunately that is how too many people view government today, as a force to promote their own view on society as a whole.

No matter how well intentioned (and most of them are well intentioned) an activist is in their efforts to make the world better through some government action, they are using the tool of government incorrectly and there will be undesirable consequences.

Take the example of racism. Government cannot be used as a force to make people be not racist. It can be used to force students of different skin colors to attend the same school building, but that is not the underlying problem. The underlying problem can only be solved by using a different tool.

Racism is not right or good, but it is the right of each individual to be racially fair-minded or racially biased. Where racism is concerned, the proper place of government is to ensure that appropriate action is taken when one person tramples the rights of another. In fact, the government need not even consider whether racism was the cause of that infringement of rights, only that the rights were infringed and what the appropriate response is towards the person or persons who did the infringing.

Tags government, issues

culture State

Embracing Broad Perspectives

Post author By David
Post date April 28, 2008
5 Comments on Embracing Broad Perspectives

I was listening to a story on NPR about young Indians abroad returning to help their country. One statement that caught my attention was the assertion that Indians who have lived in Western cultures have experienced the problems and some of the attempts to fix problems that the West has been dealing with for decades and which the Indian culture and economy are just beginning to experience as the economy there expands. Because of their perspectives from other nations they have a unique ability to help India avoid some pitfalls that the West has seen – if enough people will listen to them.

Later I was having a conversation about transportation issues in Utah and it occurred to me that the same phenomenon applies here. People in Utah who have spent appreciable time back East in areas of higher population density are much more likely to be supportive of mass transit options, tolling, and other transportation options that are often distasteful to those who have lived in the sprawling west all their lives. If those with the perspective of having lived back East are heard we might be able, as Utah continues in its rapid population growth, to avoid some pitfalls such as becoming another concrete urban jungle like Los Angeles. Only if we start making better use of transportation infrastructure options besides increasing amounts of asphalt.

Trax is good, FrontRunner is good, but lets try to make sure that such transportation options are part of the fabric of the area, not just an anomaly that feeds people into the downtown Salt lake City area.

Tags FrontRunner, international, NPR, transportation

General

Spinning Our Wheels

I have been expressing my frustration in comments about the way the federal government seems to be doing little or nothing useful in the way of increasing our homeland security. At the same time, our president is demanding more leeway to ignore the protections guaranteed by the Constitution. I found a very good statement of what is happening from Glenden Brown in his post Problem Solving (again!).

. . . many people seem to believe that doing something is the same as solving problems. The thinking seems to be “If I’m taking action, I must be solving the problem.” Such thinking misleads people into frantic activity when confronted by a challenge, activity that as often as not accomplishes nothing other than keeping them busy.

That is a perfect explanation of how our legislative bodies work. When they identify an issue they rush to do something in an effort to ensure that they are not accused of laziness or neglect. With that kind of mentality it’s no wonder that government would be known for overreacting anytime they chose to do something about an issue.

Tags connections, government

National State

A Reasonable Proposition

I think Tim Lynch has outlined a good idea for moving forward from the FLDS Texas Nightmare. This is what the Texas CPS would do if they were serious about upholding the law and pursuing justice.

- Send the 300 children under age 4 home since there has been no evidence of abuse and they are a decade from being forced into underage marriage.
- Send the boys over the age of 4 home because there is no evidence of abuse toward them.
- Allow the police one more week (since it’s already been three) to present evidence of abuse. Absent that evidence they should send the rest of the girls home as well.

Tim suggests that the investigations can continue past the next week, and prosecutions can come whenever there is evidence for a trial, but holding innocent children in detention, away from their parents for three weeks, without being able to present any evidence of abuse is a slap in the face of justice.

Tags Constitution, FLDS, government, rights, Texas

Local State

Outstanding News

The news today that UDOT puts Lehi freeway on hold is incredible.

Teri Newell of UDOT said the state agency, hearing concerns from Lehi, had agreed to cut in half the width of the road, going from 680 feet wide to something closer to 350 feet wide.

That plan will preserve a corridor wide enough to build a freeway if necessary, but beyond that, all bets are essentially off the table.

Newell said that “if” a freeway ever needs to be built — and that word alone represents a change in tone — UDOT has now agreed that negotiations must begin again at some future date . . . Instead of planning for a freeway now, a new east-west connector at 2100 North will be built as soon as possible, with two lanes and traffic signals in each direction.

I knew that the city officials had not given up on finding a resolution, and the article makes it clear that they still want to see a 2100 North freeway removed from the table of future possibilities, but I really had not expected that they would be able to make even this much progress with UDOT.

An east-west connector being built soon will do much more good for north-west Utah county than 10 more years of wrangling over the alignment without building anything. Combined with the east-west connector on 1000 South (where construction should begin sometime next year) we will have nearly the equivalent of a new east-west freeway, and 3 east-west routes (1000 S, Main, and 2100 N) through Lehi in 5 years rather than 10 more years of talk and gridlock – which is what we would have had before even if Lehi had not opposed the 2100 North freeway.

Kudos to the Lehi City officials who continued to advance the city’s interests in the face of long odds.

Tags Lehi, Mountain View Corridor, transportation

General

Federalist No. 8

I found Federalist No. 8 to be simply prophetic about the dangers a country faces when subjected to the intersection of human nature and the constant perception of external threat.

Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct. Even the ardent love of liberty will, after a time, give way to its dictates. . . . the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of continual danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political rights. To be more safe, they at length become willing to run the risk of being less free.

This is exactly the danger that libertarian minded pundits have been vocally warning against since September 12, 2001. Though Alexander Hamilton is speaking about real external dangers the truth is that the public perception of external danger can be used to these ends with equal effect.

. . . weaker States or confederacies (or even nations) would first have recourse to [standing armies] . . . They would, at the same time, be necessitated to strengthen the executive arm of government, in doing which their constitutions would acquire a progressive direction toward monarchy. It is of the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority.

This is precisely the effect that we have seen throughout the Bush administration with the constant harping on the dangers posed by terrorists from around the world. To be sure, the technological advances of the last century have reduced the geographic cushion that had contributed to our national safety for the earlier part of our history. Despite the greater range available to anyone who would threaten us, we must stand vigilant against attempts to reduce our freedom in the name of safety when the safety being offered is against a threat more imaginary than real.

I don’t mean to say that the events of 9/11 were imaginary but those events, devastating as they were, did not constitute a real threat to our national survival except insofar as we respond to them by changing our society so that we become a different nation than the one which has been a beacon of liberty to the world. That idea cannot be killed by terrorist acts, and that idea is the American that is enshrined in our constitution.

Tags documents, federalist, liberty, security

State

A Novel Approach

As the clock starts in our efforts to reform out Utah health care system I was encouraged by this Op-Ed in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Making health insurance affordable – forcing carriers to offer so-called “affordable plans” – will not result in affordable health care. . . . our priority must be to restore the health-care provider/patient relationship by providing the patient with cost and performance information and making him responsible for his own care. The government does not tell its citizens what house, car or flat screen to buy, but there is an assumption that when it comes to choosing a health-care service, we are incapable of intelligent decision-making and need intermediaries.

Only when the patient is armed with relevant information regarding cost and a providers performance will that patient be able to make informed decisions. Armed with such information, a patient will shop quality and price, which will drive down costs. (emphasis added)

What I really love about this is that it comes from a completely unexpected source – this article was written by the executive director of the Utah Association of Health Underwriters. Along with her valuable diagnosis, Ms. Smith also offers this idea as a possible approach to explore:

For example, an insurance company might give the patient a benefit credit equivalent to the average price of a knee replacement surgery and the patient would shop around with the information given. Based on this data, he might choose a surgeon with a long record of solid outcomes and a lower price than the benefit credit his insurance has given him.

The insurance company could allow him to keep the change in his Health Savings Account for future health-care needs. This practice is already happening on a small scale in several areas where a hospital lists a global price for a heart bypass and gives a 90-day warranty. No extra charges for pain medication, Band Aids or physical therapy – all are included.

This does not require a mandate for our citizens, and might serve as an incentive to bring some people into the insurance pool. It also allows for comprehensive health insurance plans that keep the patient as the one making decisions about how the insurance money gets spent.

As if that was not enough, Cameron drew my attention to an Editorial in the Deseret News written by a doctor talking about how he improved his practice by dropping insurance plans. Though the article is not explicit on the point, it sounds like he eventually dropped all insurance plans and now only deals directly with patients.

{Many physicians} feel that it’s their mission to serve as many patients as possible rather than to provide the best care possible. Most significant, today’s doctors are preoccupied with the bureaucracy of insurance companies. . .

To be sure, physicians are not entirely to blame. With insurance companies dictating how much doctors can charge for services as diverse as a routine checkup or an appendectomy, a doctor has only one route to more income: increase volume.

Does anyone else want to help ensure that these perspectives do not go unnoticed by our illustrious task force?

Tags connections, economics, health care

State

Repeat After Me

If there was one thing that I would like to accomplish related to the health care issue it would be to highlight the fact that having health insurance does not equal having decent, or even basic, health care. The Deseret News perpetuates the falsehood of equating the two:

The task force will begin the design phase of rebuilding a health care system that will ultimately ensure all Utahns have access to basic health care — nearly 300,000 Utahns don’t have insurance now.

Not having insurance is not the same as not having access to basic health care. The dangers of buying into this false association are illustrated later in these words:

Top on the list of priorities is getting everyone into the insurance pool, i.e., the chronically healthy to the chronically ill.

Is there anyone who has not heard the adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?” Forcing the chronically healthy to get into the insurance pool is a case of fixing what “ain’t broke.”

Tags health care, myths

General

Federalist No. 7

My first reaction to Federalist No. 7 was that it was applicable to the nation at the time it was written, but had little insights to offer us at present. Later it occurred to me that the issues being addressed would be applicable at any time we might consider the possibility of dissolving the nation into smaller sovereign entities. For example, the problem of how to discharge the national debt should be daunting enough to convince the majority of our citizens and states to preserve the union at any cost.

Tags documents, federalist, national debt