CONSTITUTIONAL CONVERSATIONS
The Wealth of Nations
by
M. E. Boyd, Esq., “Miss Constitution”
This is the third in a series regarding America’s economic system. The first was Pilgrims’ Progress and the second Trader Joe.
Miss Constitution asked five questions in Pilgrims’ Progress that might help us understand the uniqueness of America’s economic system.
- How does self-interest morph into communal interest?
You will recall that William Bradford, 1623, one of the leaders on the Mayflower, first understood the nature of the self to the community when he decided to let each family plant its own garden and share the excess. The private gardens produced much more food and Plymouth Colony never faced starvation again. The premise is that human beings are motivated first by self-interest and this impulse must be considered in any successful economic system. Start with the development of the person and then move to the group. Socialism/Communism starts with the group and confiscates from the person. That is why it fails.
To get the person to share with the group after his or her interests are met is part of the philosophy of Francis Hutcheson, a Scot who along with Adam Smith, another Scot, articulated that human beings also have a moral conscience and it is that moral conscience that can be fostered by any society into charity and philanthropy – in other words, into social justice – AFTER an individual’s needs are met. This is the philosophic basis of our economy and in partnership with Judeo/Christian moral tenets forms the unique American version of Capitalism.
- How does personal Liberty partner with obedience to the Rule of Law?
This is one of the ironies of our system. One is free in America to pursue self-interest but must do so within the Rule of Law. Liberty, our primary value and motivator in economic success, is tethered to boundaries represented by Positive, Natural, Moral, and Unwritten Law. (Miss Constitution has written extensively on these four bundles of law but will briefly define them as the Constitution, statutes, common and administrative law – what is called positive law; life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness – what is called natural law; the ten commandments and the requirement to love your neighbor as yourself – what is called moral law; and courtesy and good manners – what is called unwritten law.)
- Aren’t many of the Founding principles contradictory?
Well, yes and no. What may be a contradiction may also be a boundary. Liberty without boundaries can morph into license. Liberty to think freely can morph into denial of duty. Liberty to own privately can morph into greed and inappropriate display. Obedience, duty, and humility are partners with liberty not contradictory to it.
- With so many safety nets aren’t we a Socialist country now?
We are not a Socialist/Communist country if we remember the difference between human and political rights and entitlements as we define them in our system. Entitlements are not rights. There is no such thing as a “right” with a price tag attached to it. In our system our HUMAN RIGHTS come from God, not our government, and have no monetary value. We have unalienable God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Implicit in these rights is the right to own private property. POLITICAL RIGHTS come from the Bill of Rights in our federal Constitution and in each state’s Constitution. We have the right to speak out about public policy (with restrictions); we have the right to be secure in our person and possessions (with restrictions); we have a right to bear arms for our own protection (with restrictions); etc. etc. None of these rights has a monetary value.
Our social safety nets are ENTITLEMENTS, not rights, and may be altered based on the financial health of the nation or state. They are meant, mostly, to be temporary not permanent obligations of the state or federal government. Politicians might propose an entitlement to health care or a college education or a minimum personal income, but they are misleading the public if they call these things “rights.”
- How are social and economic issues supposed to be addressed in our system?
Well, this is the $64,000 dollar question that Miss Constitution will address in her next column. Last week Miss Constitution said that to summarize our system one only had to remember the letter “P” – development of the PERSON; an impartial PROCESS; through the PRIVATE SECTOR; resulting often in PROSPERITY and then mandatory PHILANTHROPY. Addressing social and economic issues of poverty, of upward mobility, of climate change, of pollution; of disease; or any other issue has a formula that has worked, over time. It has worked because the formula follows the nature of human beings that has been revealed to us and does not change. Thank you, William Bradford, and Francis Hutcheson, and Adam Smith for introducing these concepts to America. Answers next week!
Copyright©2020 M.E. Boyd, “Miss Constitution”
APPLES OF GOLD – Voices from the Past that Speak to us Now by M. E. Boyd is available at www.amazon.com
