The Dangers of Collectivism

Groups find power in numbers, and everyone knows it is hard to win a war without a huge, well-equipped and trained army.  Yes there are exceptions like unique generals with great strategy, and then of course there was David and Goliath, but generally you need the numbers behind what you wish to fight for.

So what happens?  We see the formation of Unions to represent workers.  Lots of good intentions there!  They want safer work environments and elimination of discriminatory practices…but ultimately what happens is they want “freebies.”   Give us higher pay, more days off, restrict employer ability to hire and fire, and the list goes on.  As the numbers grow in these unions, the financial and political clout gets enormous, as does their ability to bribe.

Corporations can be small, but the ones we think about and hear about most often are huge.  They form to dominate a particular business environment and gain tax advantages by doing so.  Ultimately, as they grow, they seek concessions from the government to improve their standing.  They, too, want “freebies.”  They make sure they donate to candidates who will improve their standing in the business marketplace.  As their corporation grows, so does their financial and political power and their ability to bribe.

That pretty much takes care of everyone in the United States with just those two collectives (though there are others with varying degrees of power as well.) Pretty soon whichever side has the most collective power and the money assembled behind it selects and keeps in power those who feed them properly with their “freebies.”

Our elected officials were seen as a buffer against “pure democracy” which has a tendency to offer the opportunity to vote in a manner that directly demands freebies.  It was thought that an impassive bunch of educated, honest, incorruptible, democratically elected statesmen would weigh the issues and the consequences and “do the right thing” when they voted on issues affecting citizens of the United States of America  (I think they also thought it was a hedge against the fact that they believed many of the people they were giving the vote to were too dumb or ill-informed to deserve it.)  Leaders doing the “right thing” is a high ideal…and obviously one not often met these days.  Unfortunately our forefathers didn’t see the politics of money and collectivism or envision a “class of career political elites” seeking to be in power for life and needing to keep their various “collectives” happy enough to fund their campaigns and keep them cloaked in the robes of power.  And that, unfortunately is the real problem with collectives.  There is little that can be done to put ‘true leaders’ into the seats of power when individuals leading collectives make the selections.

Then eventually you get a candidate who tries to make one great collective out of the people and go directly to them through the internet.  Unfortunately, for them  it’s still about those who want “freebies” that are not necessarily in the best interest of the country’s survival…and it’s still about staying in power (so I’m still harping on term limits, no private funding for campaigns, and lots of public funded television debates for the candidates.)