Dad Gum Gub'mint

"Dad gum gub'mint," he says. His eyes squint and his lips curl into a grimace as he goes on, saying, "Gub'mint's the whole mess. Gittin' too big. Think they can run our whole lives!"

Then he proceeds to rant about [insert government program here]. Everyone thinks he's crazy, and to be honest he probably is. But he has something important in common with the Constitution, but not quite the same. What he has is more like the Declaration of Independence.

First, who is he? He's your crazy old uncle, or that neighbor with all the guns, or the sales clerk at Bass Pro. He might not even be a 'he.' She could be your home-schooled friend who's memorized the constitution and brings up at least of the amendments in every political conversation she has (but she probably prefers the tenth). He or she is whoever distrusts government.

Obviously, what he or she possesses is distrust of government, but how does that compare to the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence? Distrust is a real, legitimate check on the power of government. The Constitution supplies several legal checks, but it cannot supply social norms. Norms are not documents, they cannot be legislated into existence.

The Declaration on the other hand is a little more analogous. The Declaration expressed an idea, served as a tool of moral warfare, and was a morale lifting agent during the Revolutionary War. The idea was governmental distrust in a very blatant form—individuals superior to the state, and the state under threat of revolution by many individuals. The moral warfare was fought as the Declaration gave the country and the world a new set of eyes through which to evaluate the revolution in a positive light. By materializing these ideas into an eloquent statement, the Declaration became a rock upon which the soldiers could base their morale and courage. "What are we fighting for, anyway?" asks the one, to which another responds, "The rights of man! The inalienable rights that God gave us! We are overcoming a tyrannical government, as is our right and duty! Don't you remember our Declaration?" Because the very essence of the Declaration was and idea, it serves almost the very same purpose as the norms I am about to mention. What makes it so powerful is that its force lies in social norms, not legalese.

What is a social norm? It is an idea, shared by the multitude, about what is right, wrong, commonplace or acceptable in a given situation. We shake hands with the right hand. We say, "how are you doing?" when we begin conversations. We don't talk about religion and politics among diverse company (a norm I am known to flout regularly). And we don't trust the government.

We once distrusted government. This distrust is so crucial because it is used to prevent tyranny just as much as our constitutional checks and balances are. Furthermore, when our constitutional checks are violated, as can happen to any legal document, society's norms remain. We've still got the people who say, "No! That government's gotten way too big, and gone way too far!" Judicial, executive, and legislative checks aren't enough; means outside the government are crucial as well.

Those norms are fading away.

Under the false pretense of reason, we are encouraged to separate our emotions entirely from our thoughts. That is not 'reason,' it is lunacy. Government possesses the greatest claim on the use of force. It is dangerous. It is not a simple, harmless institution; it is very able and, as history clearly shows, very willing to go too far.

Americans are now okay with regularly showing government officials an ID. We're fine with filing mind-numbing loads of official paperwork to run a business. We are okay with getting searched and patted down at airports. Where's the distrust? Where's the "back off, I don't want your official nose in my business, my personal life, my home, or my junk"?

There should, regarding government, be a feeling similar to that which motivates you to cross the street when a suspicious-looking character is coming from the opposite direction. This brand of distrust motivates you to lock your doors in a bad neighborhood. It motivates you doubt government's stated intentions and dread its power. There is nothing irrational about that.

Not only is this apathy harmful, but it’s self-propagating. In other words, it's not only the match; it's also the wind which carries the fire. The more people accept government intrusion into their lives, the more their children will. The more they will accept in the future. Acceptance of governmental intrusion into every aspect of our culture, personal lives, and finances is simultaneously its own cause and effect.

So don't marginalize the admittedly crazy redneck who gripes about government day in and day out. Don't make fun of the kid who talks about the constitution non-stop. Give him or her a pat on the back sometime—say, "Thank-you, friend, for standing up for our rights." Then just smile as the rant continues.