SUPPORTING BREIF #3: PLANNED ECONOMY, Page 2
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Hayek pointed out that a planned economy allows government to gain more and more control over the national income. In fact, in 1928, both the central and local authorities in Germany controlled 53% of the national income. Hayek stated "they control indirectly almost the whole economic life of the nation." ibid., pg. 61. It is an alarming fact that, in America today, both the central and local authorities control around half the national income. Are we on course to repeat, in some fashion, what happened to Germany? The warning signs are present and the clock is ticking.
During the implementation of the New Deal in the 1930's, a wholesale system of delegated legislation came into being. The massive amount of executive legislation rubber stamped by Congress transferred an enormous amount of legislative powers to the executive. Delegated legislation is essential for socialism to work "and its extension is inevitable if the process of socialization is not to be wrecked by the normal methods of obstruction which existing parliamentary procedure sanctions." ibid., pg. 63.
It is nonsense to believe that a legislative body can direct a planned economy.
"A democratic assembly voting and amending a comprehensive economic plan clause by clause, as it deliberates on an ordinary bill, makes nonsense." ibid., pg. 64.
Hayek stated that "Hitler did not have to destroy democracy; he merely took advantage of the decay of democracy and at the critical moment obtained the support of many to whom, though they detested Hitler, he yet seemed the only man strong enough to get things done." ibid., pg. 68.
Chapter VI of Hayek's book is entitled "Planning and the Rule of Law". Reading this chapter was a cold slap in the face, in that, the gradual decay of our Rule of Law (Constitution) is strikingly similar to the gradual decay of Germany's fundamental principles of law. Hayek Stated: "While every law restricts individual freedom to some extent by altering the means which people may use in the pursuit of their aims, under the Rule of Law the government is prevented from stultifying individual efforts by ad hoc action. Within the known rules of the game the individual is free to pursue his personal ends and desires, certain that the powers of government will not be used deliberately to frustrate his efforts.... Economic planning of the collectivist kind necessarily involves the very opposite of this." ibid., pg. 73.
The executive planning board called the IRS is the overlord of virtually all labor activity. The IRS will not tolerate an individual very long that refuses to obey their laws. If you dare try to keep the whole product of your labor, it will only be a matter of time before the overlords of the people's labor descend upon the disobedient individual in an attempt to despoil him of the fruits of his labor.
"Where freedom was concerned, the founders of socialism made no bones about their intentions. Freedom of thought they regarded as the root-evil of nineteenth-century society, and the first of modern planners, Saint-Simon, even predicted that those who did not obey his proposed planning boards would be 'treated as cattle'". ibid., pg. 24.
Hayek stated "that socialists (and Nazis) have always protested against 'merely' formal justice, that they have always objected to a law which had no views on how well off particular people ought to be, and that they have always demanded a 'socialization of the law," attacked the independence of judges, and at the same time given their support to all such movements as the Freirechtsschule which undermined the Rule of Law." ibid., pp. 79-80.
I have found it interesting, in watching court television from time to time, that many judges have the following maxim on the wall behind their bench : THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE IS THE HIGHEST LAW. I thought that the Constitution was supposed to be the highest law.
"The Rule of Law was consciously evolved only during the liberal age and is one of its greatest achievements, not only as a safeguard but as the legal embodiment of freedom." ibid., pp. 81-82.
Socialists believe that "so long as all actions of the state are duly authorized by legislation, the Rule of Law will be preserved. But this is completely to misconceive the meaning of the Rule of Law. This rule has little to do with the question whether all actions of government are legal in the juridical sense. They may well be and yet not conform to the Rule of Law." ibid., pg. 82. Along these lines consider the massive amount of federal law written and enforced by executive officers of the FDA, EPA, IRS, OSHA, and so forth. These laws are recognized and enforced by the courts today even though Article I, § 1 denies this exercise of power (see: A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. U.S., 295 US 495). The IRS, under executive control, exercises taxing powers and the courts uphold their exercise of power, even though this is in violation of Article I, § 8 (I have not found any challenge yet made on this one). Thus, we can see that the planned economy we have in America has caused our Rule of Law to decay just the same as the planned economy of the Germans caused their Rule of Law to decay. There are more examples that could be given, but the two examples should suffice to affirm the proposition of the decay of our fundamental law.
In a planned society "the use of the government's coercive powers will no longer be limited and determined by preestablished rules. The law can, and to make a central direction of economic activity possible must, legalize what to all intents and purposes remains arbitrary action. If the law says that such a board or authority may do what it pleases, anything that board or authority does is legal- but its actions are certainly not subject to the Rule of Law. By giving the government unlimited powers, the most arbitrary rule can be made legal; and in this way a democracy may set up the most complete despotism imaginable." ibid., pp. 82-83.
Congress, over the past six decades, has created an executive monster which it has no way of controlling. Our federal legislature today is merely a "talking shop". Hayek stated that "as planning extends, the delegation of legislative powers to divers boards and authorities becomes increasingly common." ibid. For example, was the recent FAA decision to place bomb detection equipment and federal police officers in airports mandated by an act of congress? No, it was mandated by the executive branch of government.
Socialists believe "that in a rationally ordered world there will be no individual rights but only individual duties." ibid., pg. 86. As Benito Mussolini put it:
"We were the first to assert that the more complicated the forms assumed by civilization, the more restricted the freedom of the individual must become." ibid., pg. 43.
The majority of people in America have forgotten the importance of our economic freedoms. "To be controlled in our economic pursuits means to be always controlled unless we declare our specific purpose. Or, since when we declare our specific purpose we shall also have to get it approved, we should really be controlled in everything." ibid., pg. 91. We seem to have forgotten that slavery is an economic relation. Hayek stated that "economic planning would involve direction of almost the whole of our life." ibid., pg. 92. For example, have you ever tried to open a bank account without a social security number? Have you ever tried getting a job without the number. Try it and then reflect on Hayek's words.
We are all aware that the government loves to pass laws under the "commerce" clause and the "general welfare" clause. Socialists pass their laws under "such abstractions as the 'social welfare' or the 'good of the community.'" ibid., pg. 96. What ever happened to the clause which states "and Secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity"? It would seem that the government has forgotten that one.
"We should be seriously deceiving ourselves if for these apprehensions we sought comfort in the consideration that the adoption of central planning would merely mean a return, after a brief spell of a free economy, to the ties and regulations which have governed economic activity through most ages, and that therefore the infringements of personal liberty need not be greater than they were before the age of laissez faire. This is a dangerous illusion." ibid., pg. 99.
I don't see how anyone can deny that the federal government, as well as many states, deliberately impose their tax laws upon the people's labor and punish those who refuse to comply with such tax laws. "It may be bad to be just a cog in an impersonal machine; but it is infinitely worse if we can no longer leave it, if we are tied to our place and to the superiors who have been chosen for us. Dissatisfaction of everybody with his lot in life will inevitably grow with the consciousness that it is the result of deliberate human decision." ibid., pp. 106-107.
Hayek saw that, in his day, America's planned economic system was in its infancy. There was no track record to examine. "In England and America such restrictions, especially those affecting the intermediate strata of society, have assumed important dimensions only in comparatively recent times, and we have scarcely yet realized their full consequences." ibid., pg. 129. Today, we have a track record to examine, and it is quite obvious that the federal government is swallowing up state sovereignty and continually gaining more power over the people.
"While it is doubtful whether the spirit of freedom can anywhere be extirpated by force, it is not certain that any people would successfully withstand the process by which it was slowly smothered in Germany." ibid., pp. 131-132. The slavery that was introduced in the Colonies in 1620 was introduced abruptly; the slavery that developed in Germany was a slow and gradual process. The same is true today in America. If, during the implementation of the New Deal six decades ago, the federal government began taxing the labor of the people at the rate of 30% and imposed numbers upon them, Congress would have been looking for a place to hide. However, the process has been slow and gradual over the years. It was a mistake to raise taxation upon labor to such a high level, because one person who can prove the existence of slavery could very well instigate the downfall of the system.
Hayek pointed out that, when an enormous amount of power becomes vested in the central government, it is the lust for power that causes them to seek political office. Chapter X of his book is entitled "Why the Worst get on Top". Jefferson warned us long ago that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." The office of the President today is an office of enormous powers that go far beyond the powers delegated in the Constitution. Is it any wonder then that scandals and corruption seem to be the word of the day? It is interesting to note that some of our Presidents in the past had many of their writings and speeches condensed into works. Among these are The Life of Washington and The Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln. However, I doubt you'll ever see offered to the public The Complete Works of Richard M. Nixon. It is also interesting that, during the 1996 election, exit polling data cited by the ABC news team during the election coverage revealed that 53% of the people believed Clinton to be untrustworthy, yet they had voted for him anyway. There are, evidently, many who feel individual character is of little or no importance in a presidential candidate. As long as I feel safe and secure, he's doing a fine job. If this be the case, let's say by some miraculous event, we could bring back Hitler and Mussolini and place them on the two party ticket. After all, remember, you feel safe and secure in your economic and social condition. Who would you vote for?
Also, over the years, we have seen the Executive use many guises to expand the federal police power. At one time there was just the FBI. Now we have the ATF and the DEA. Have we forgotten the SS and the Gestapo? Just what kind of people are attracted to positions in a federal police force? Hayek stated that, in Germany, such individuals came from the ranks of the "ruthless and unscrupulous.... And as there will be need for actions which are bad in themselves, and which all those still influenced by traditional morals will be reluctant to perform, the readiness to do bad things becomes a path to promotion and power." ibid., pg. 151. We are all aware that government propaganda led many people to believe that the Branch Dividians at Waco, Texas shot the children before burning the "compound". However, a recent program on The Learning Channel in December, 1996 brought out a totally different story. The Texas Rangers who had to clean up after the feds found mothers burned to death clutching their children in their arms. Hayek, quoting Professor Frank H. Knight, stated: "they would have to do these thing whether they wanted to or not: and the probability of the people in power being individuals who would dislike the possession and exercise of power is on a level with the probability that an extremely tender-hearted person would get the job of whipping-master in a slave plantation." ibid., 152.
Just how is it that the federal government is able to get away with their unconstitutional practices and their tyrannical oppressions? We seem to have forgotten what propaganda is. Propaganda has been used throughout history to pervert the public mind so that political forces can gain power over the people. Propaganda is used today to make people believe that they have a legal duty to pay tax on their labor and to make them believe that the federal government can govern in the states at their own pleasure, even though both objects are in violation of the Constitution.
Chapter XI of Hayek's book is entitled "The End of Truth". Hayek stated "that all the instruments of propaganda are co-ordinated to influence the individuals in the same direction to produce the characteristic Gleichschaltung of all minds.... If all the sources of current information are effectively under one single control, it is no longer a question of merely persuading the people of this or that. The skillful propagandist then has the power to mold their minds in any direction he chooses, and even the most intelligent and independent people cannot entirely escape that influence if they are long isolated from all other sources of information." ibid., pp. 153-154.
The majority of people today get their news information from television; a medium which is regulated by the FCC, and executive bureaucracy. One might find it interesting to note that television was actually the invention of private enterprise. NBC was originally RCA-NBC in the late 1930's. In fact, "public television service was begun by RCA-NBC in April, 1939. Questions of standards, regulation and commercial policy were dividing the industry, and sales of receivers by RCA and other proceeded slowly. Although standards were not radically changed, commercial television was delayed until July 1, 1941, when the NBC station in New York, WNBT, began commercial service, having four sponsors for programs. The FCC rules provided for a minimum schedule of 15 hrs. a week." Encyclopedia Britannica, 1944 ed., Vol. 21, pg. 913 (emphasis added). As we can see, television came in under the straightjacket of FCC regulations, an executive bureaucracy. FCC regulations still control television today. So let us ask a question: What free press is there that is regulated by government? Justice William O. Douglas, in a speech before The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association on June 20, 1942 stated: "We as a people know substitute for a free press. Certainly, Government cannot provide one." (source: Life Magazine, July 13, 1942 ed., pg. 11.) When you watch television news, you are watching government regulated news. No free press can exist under a government license.
Another interesting fact about how television first came into being is brought out by Sterling E. Edmunds of the St. Louis Bar in his book The Roosevelt Coup D'Etat (1940, Republished today by Gospel Ministries Publications, Boise, Idaho, 1995) on page 13. He stated: "That the Federal Communications Commission has been guilty of a glaring act of oppression and repression of private enterprise is seen in its decision in March, 1940, forbidding the Radio Corporation of America to manufacture and sell television sets to the public, which would open up an entire new industry and provide new employment for an incalculable number of persons now without employment." It is obvious that the political forces in the Executive wanted to exercise control of this medium for the purposes of propaganda.
When propaganda becomes totalitarian in nature, the effects are profound. Hayek stated: "They are destructive of all morals because they undermine one of the foundations of all morals: the sense of and the respect for truth." The Road to Serfdom, pg. 155. This statement is indeed correct. For example, even though paying tax on the fruits of your labor is servitude, many television stations have "help lines" for people to call into at tax time to assist them in continuing their servitude to the government. Absolutely nothing is told to the people about the voluntary nature of the income tax. Indeed, propaganda is alive and well in America.
Just as the labor of the German people slowly and methodically came under government control over the years, so it is also with America. When it becomes firmly established in law that the labor of the people is just another article of commerce, then we will have reverted back to the dark ages of our history. If this happens, Liberty and Freedom will be no more.