the choice is now

I've been thinking about this for a while now.  For over two hundred years the United States has been a beacon of light in a sometimes dark world.  The reason for this is the hope and freedom America has stood for.  During his campaign President Obama campaigned on a similar message of hope.  But what has been America's "theme" been since its inception?  I think it's been the American Dream: the freedom to pursue your own interests and better your place in society through hard work and free enterprise.  This simple, but remarkably inspiring idea of a society of truly free men, has inspired millions of Americans and immigrants alike over the past two centuries.  While much of the rest of the world has been under the darkness of tyranny, oppression and totalitarian regimes, America has stood up for the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Unfortunately, many of these values seem to be eroding away in today's America.  I was inspired to write this post after reading a WSJ commentary entitled "The Real Culture War is Over Capitalism," (thanks for the recommendation Dad) but I think the current cultural class in America goes beyond capitalism, it is over individual liberty and personal autonomy in general.  Yesterday, the preliminary plans for a restructured GM and Chrysler were released to the public.  In each case the government will have large shares of the companies.  In the case of GM, the federal government will receive a 50% stake in the newly restructured company in exchange for $16.2 billion in treasury loans and $8.1 billion in GM debt.  By some estimates,  this could amount to a return-on-investment of up to $0.87 on the dollar.  Current private bondholders of GM stock, who currently own about $27.2 billion in unsecured GM credit, would receive only a 10% stake in exchange for a debt-for-equity swap.  This amounts to a return of less than five cents on the dollar.  How is this fair?  In a traditional bankruptcy both would be considered unsecured creditors, and would be treated relatively equally.  Instead the Government and their chosen "winners" (in this case the UAW who received a 39% stake after concessions in their collective bargaining agreements) make out like bandits while private investors and lenders receive the short end of the stick.  

However, the auto industry is only part of a much larger and more troubling trend.  America is moving away from the idea that hard work and doing the right thing should be rewarded.  Instead we are becoming a country where we think everyone, regardless of how well you planned for the future or took into consideration long term consequences, should prosper.  We want a Utopian society where even bad investments and ideas are rewarded.  That is not the American ideal, and in fact it is an unsustainable model.  Not every investment can succeed, and we can't prop up every failing industry.

There are millions of Americans out there who are doing the right thing.  They are homeowners who saved so that they could put a large enough down payment on their homes so that they could afford their mortgages.  They are small business owners who have made concessions so that they can navigate through the hard times.  They are all the other people who made the right, but unpopular choice.  You cannot have personal freedom without personal responsibility, and by eliminating the responsibilities associated with economic decisions, the federal government is eroding liberty from its citizens.  It may not seem like much now, and to many it may seem like the humane thing to do, but in a society of ordered liberty, any encroachment on these freedoms will cause our society to begin moving down a slippery slope.  If these concessions to our freedoms are ok now, what will be ok in 20 years? 50 years? 100 years?  If our history teaches us anything, once the federal government takes the power to control something, it never gives it back.  If we don't stand up now, then with each day and each concession we make, we move further and further from the ideals of the founding fathers and closer to the centralized planning government so feared in the classic novels 1984 and Brave New World.  

This may sound like a joke to some, but I take my freedom very seriously.  We are fortunate enough to live in the most free and fair society in the history of mankind.  I just want to keep it that way.