Del Beccaro: The Centralized Government Kamala Wants Is The Sworn Enemy of Freedom

Kamala Harris and the Democratic National Committee have attempted to fashion themselves as the great protectors of freedom and democracy despite their big government ambitions and calls to limit free speech. On this issue, however, history speaks rather clearly – ever larger governments and freedom are sworn enemies.

Harris presents a stark contrast to Trump with regard to censorship and the use of government power. As a result, this November’s election could well be remembered as a decisive moment in the battle between personal freedom and America’s large and growing centralized government.

The history of governments, generally, is that they start out small and decentralized and become progressively larger and more centralized. That is in keeping with one sure lesson of history that power centralizes over time.

American history is study in the centralization of government power. The United States was born of a Revolution against centralized power, i.e., a monarchy – the predominant form of government prior to the American Revolution.

After their revolutionary success, American power resided with the individual states and their constitutions. So weak was the national government that, under the Articles of Confederation, Congress could not even levy taxes.

Importantly, at the outset, economic power was decentralized throughout the new nation. That is important because, historically, there can be no sustainable democracy or republic where economic and political power are controlled by the same elites.

In short time, however, in response to a debt crisis and squabbles between states, the Founders wanted a “more perfect union.” That came in the form of more power residing in the national government.

In the 200+ years since, ever more power has centralized in the Nation’s capitol. That too occurred in response to crises after crises, such as the Great Depression, banking failures and wars.

As a result, where once under Jefferson total government spending was two to three percent of U.S. economy, it is now 35%. As with other times and places, growing government spending has equated directly to increased political power.

As governments grow, they also accumulate excessive deficits and, in turn, national debt. Inflation is the predictable outcome of that history. America today is an example of that as well. We are also reminded of John Adams warning that “There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.” On the other hand, no government has failed because of its balanced budget.

Beyond the economic dangers fostered by big governments, in time, they nearly uniformly extinguish personal freedoms and free elections. Every larger government, especially centralized socialist governments, require and often impose uniformity of thought and outcome. As economic fortunes decline under their central planning, political freedoms diminish as well. Witness Venezuela today.

Another important lesson, if not law of history, is that those in power seek to retain that power. They often do so by protecting themselves from the governed – effectively turning the governed from citizens into subjects.

So, as I write in my book The Lessons of the American Civilization, King Herod, who became King of Judea through marriage, killed his wife he suspected of adultery and his two sons by her to secure his throne in the year 7 BC. In 1479, Milan’s Ludovico Sforza, perhaps more generously, used imprisonment and exile to ensure his rule as did Ercole d’Este of Ferrara.

In the name of the “stability of the Republic,” at the height of the Venetian Republic in the 1300s, access to higher office was restricted in response to public dissent and a spy network was created in the form of the Council of Ten—which spied on the Venetian citizenry. Marie Antoinette’s lesser-known sister, Queen Maria Carolina of Naples, in response to the treatment of her sister, sought to protect herself and Naples from a similar fate.

With that in mind, the recent history of the United States government and those in power comes into focus. As political power has concentrated, America’s larger government does ever more business with huge special interests, corporations and unions. Today, Pfizer and public employee unions have a far greater say in public policy than voters – a stark contrast to America’s Founding.

Meanwhile, the Venetian Council of Ten would be jealous of the technological powers of the United States Department of Justice and FBI to spy and intimidate. Further, as I wrote in 2022, the DOJ and the FBI seek to decide who can be president with their selective investigations and prosecutions.

During COVID, the U.S. government sought to intimidate big corporations and citizens alike into a uniformity of thought about not only the virus but why Americans should be willing to give up their freedoms. As Americans complied in record numbers, they forgot Benjamin Franklin’s warning that ‘Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

That matters because It another lesson of history that dissent is the mother of democracy. Without the right to freely challenge those in power, freedom cannot survive. The Brazil of today is a warning to all.

America has witnessed the claims that President Trump is a threat to democracy. During her convention speech, Kamala Harris declared that it was Trump’s intent to jail his political opponents. Yet, just four days later, the Biden/Harris Administration indicted their political opponent yet again.

There is nothing so tired in history as an authoritarian utilizing the very tactics they claim their opponents would use.

So, as Americans race toward another election, they would be wise to note that growing government comes at a price and this warning from Daniel Webster increases in importance: “There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.”

Finally, lest one is discouraged, always remember that with the Enlightenment (1685 to 1800s) and the power of ideas, individual freedoms emerged from centuries of centralized and authoritarian power. Eventually, big government informally fails its people economically and then politically. This November, American voters can render that judgment once again and inspire new generations with the value of freedom and the values of freedom.

~~

Thomas Del Beccaro is author of “The Lessons of the American Civilization” and host of the Podcast “Del Beccaro & Hook”