NORQUIST ASKS FOR BAD GOVERNMENT

People like Grover Norquist take the most bestial approach to government. It is the basis of the immature approach taken during campaigns. We not only hear it but also believe it. It would not be right to claim there is an immature approach without defining a mature approach. When we act like children, we are immature but when we act like a parent, we are obligated to act mature. To an evolutionary psychologist, the obligation to act mature implies to survive, which takes it to the bestial level. To do what we have to do to survival is not always a pleasant thing but our humanization has gone far to ameliorate the associated harshness.

When politicians, who want everyone to love them, take the easy approach and say what most people want them to say—to be agreeable is to be pleasant, to be part of the herd. They do not want to pay taxes; therefore, they sign Grover’s pledge. However, after we elect them, we suddenly want them to do an about face and be leaders—to break the pledge—be mature; the hallmark of leadership is that sometimes it requires making unpleasant decisions. Mature leaders know that someone has to pay for not only the sustenance but also pay for the candy as well. Although complex, the dilemma is so obvious it seems trite. By putting sustenance and goodies in the same basket, Norquist is asking for bad government. Increasing taxes to pay for anything makes pledge signing politicians bad politicians. The problem is obvious, if the politician acts mature and seriously considers raising taxes s/he is a liar, therefore not electable, which makes enforcement of the Grover Norquist pledge a huge step toward bad government.

I include in the definition of bad government, a government of a rich country that wants its middle class citizens to live like people live in a third world country. Of course, the people who endorse Norquist and those like him want all of the benefits of living in a rich country for themselves. This is the Republican dream. It is a form of greed. It is counter to good government. This makes the pledge and those who sign it, the work of greedy minds.