■g3g3by MARK W. HENDRICKSON
The Coming
of Caesar
W
E HAVE A PROBLEM. This could trying to pick his neighbor’s pocket. How in need. Many Americans have been
be “the big one”—bigger than can there be social harmony when every- taught to believe that they are entitled to
coping with the Ahmadinejads, one is trying to rip off someone else? a share of other people’s property, even if
Kims, and Chavezes of the world This process of using government to they have contributed nothing of value to
and bigger than our current economic extract wealth from other citizens (dubbed society themselves and have made poor
woes. Our republic, our society, may be “legal plunder” by the 19
th
-century French choices. The other social “contract” is the
heading for a crackup. We are bankrupt, economist Frederi) has reached the point traditional implicit promise of America:
both financially and politically. where Uncle Sam is essentially bankrupt. namely, that if you work hard, you are
The source of the problem is democ- With government spending and deficits entitled to the fruits of your labor.
racy. Decades of “progressive” thought soaring, the day of reckoning approaches. When a financial crackup occurs,
have led us to abandon the limited- If foreigners should decide to cut their those who have been taught to depend on
government, constitutional republic losses and balk at financing any more of government will demand continued gov-
established by our founding fathers. In our debt, either interest rates will soar, ernment benefits. If government fails to
the name of putting more power into the provide them, those demands could turn
hands of “the people,” the government violent. On the other hand, if government
has arrogated sweeping powers. moves to confiscate a significant chunk
There is a famous passage (possibly of whatever wealth remains in the hands
cobbled together from several separate of an already-hurting middle class, then
statements and authors) that explains millions of peaceful, law-abiding, hard-
democracy’s fatal flaw, the inherently working Americans may finally reach the
self-destructive element that caused our breaking point and rebel, as our forebears
founding fathers to distrust democracy: did in the 1770s, against a government
“A democracy is always temporary in viewed as abusive and oppressive.
nature; it simply cannot exist as a perma- How bad could it get? If the social
nent form of government. A democracy collapsing the economy, or the Fed will order breaks down, civil unrest could
will continue to exist up until the time monetize all the debt, collapsing the dollar disrupt markets and shortages of essential
that voters discover that they can vote and the economy. goods could occur. The resulting chaos
themselves generous gifts from the pub- Can that day of cataclysm be post- could trigger martial law. A strong lead-
lic treasury. From that moment on, the poned? Perhaps the wealth-redistribution er—a Caesar—could arise and institute
majority always votes for the candidates system can be kept on life support a some sort of command order. Millions
who promise the most benefits from the while longer, if government can confis- would resent it, but it would be accepted,
public treasury, with the result that every cate a much larger share of the middle because the alternative—civil conflict,
democracy will finally collapse due to class’s wealth (yes, the middle class, chronic disorder, and impending starva-
loose fiscal policy, which is always fol- because there aren’t enough rich people tion—would be intolerable. In such a
lowed by a dictatorship.” to finance all of Uncle Sam’s promises) or calamity, Caesar would be the lesser of
Today, Washington redistributes tril- by dramatically slashing benefits. two evils. The American Republic and
lions of dollars annually, so the capital When that momentous day arrives, Constitution would join earlier democra-
is swarmed by battalions of lobbyists, there will be a lot of angry Americans. One cies in the ashbin of history.
representing myriad special interests, each might say that the “social contract” will be God help us.
trying to secure more political rent from broken, but the problem is, there isn’t just
government than what government takes one such “contract.” There are two, and Mark W. Hendrickson is an adjunct
from them. As the late, great economist they are fundamentally and irreconcilably faculty member, economist, and contrib-
Hans Sennholz described it, the demo- opposed to each other. uting scholar with The Center for Vision
cratic “transfer society” resembles the One “contract” is the government’s & Values at Grove City College. Article
absurd spectacle of a circle of people, each long-standing promise to support those distributed by EP News.
EVANGEL • FEB 2010 27
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