Should We Abolish The IRS, And The Government As Well?

By Tom Kando

As I said in my previous post, among the explosion of (alleged) Obama administration scandals, the IRS scandal is probably the most damaging. As everyone knows by now, the IRS discriminated against conservatives by raising the bar higher for groups such as the Tea Party when it comes to granting them tax exempt status. This action by some rogue elements of the huge IRS bureaucracy was incredibly stupid. I assume that the White House had nothing to do with it. Furthermore, it’s being blown vastly out of proportion. Rush Limbaugh compared it to the Holocaust!

What is most unfortunate about this scandal is that it feeds the already widespread anti-government frenzy of the past several years. Over the past couple of decades, the American plutocracy has succeeded - with its enormous unfairly acquired wealth - in brainwashing a majority of (white) Americans into a deep-seated conservatism bordering on anarchism.

From Franklin Roosevelt through Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson, this country functioned optimally as a responsible social democracy. It recognized the benevolent role of government, the importance of caring of the needy, the imperative of social justice. Then, selfishness gradually took over. Reagan was selfishness’ most eloquent spokesman, defining the government as the “problem rather than the solution,” as “the beast which needs to be starved.” Today, it’s become de rigueur to agree with this. Jay Leno receives ovations whenever he rags on “the government.”

I am not a knee-jerk apologist for the government. We do have a problem. But the problem is the OPPOSITE of what the Republican Party is telling us. It is the corrupt collusion between the government and the corporate elite. The collusion between Congress and the plutocracy. The “too big to fail” preferential treatment of mega-corporations. The way Wall Street was bailed out during the great recession. As they say, “socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.” The tax system reflects this: labor is taxed maximally, while inherited wealth, profits from investments and corporate profits are taxed minimally. On the Right, they want to make things even worse by replacing progressive taxation with the abomination of a flat tax.

But folks, let me tell you something: the increasing amputation of the government is the road to perdition. America is on the road to failure as a society, if it persists on mutilating its public sector. And unfortunately, the IRS is THE cornerstone of the public sector. The alternative to a fair taxation system is regression to feudalism and anarchy.

The multiple scandals which have erupted recently are used by the Right as an attack (1) on the hated Obama administration and (2) on “government” in general. The name of the game is to DESTABILIZE and to EMASCULATE the executive branch, preferably through scandal mongering.

Perhaps America is becoming ungovernable. The eternal political question is how to balance freedom and individualism with justice and the collective well-being. America’s emphasis on freedom has been commendable. But freedom carried to excess becomes anarchy. Freedom must be tempered with stability and a reasonable level of equality. America scores low on the latter two things.

Stability is correlated with prosperity. Throughout history, when a state has enjoyed stable leadership, its people have enjoyed peace and prosperity. At no time did the Romans thrive more than during Augustus’ 45-year long reign. Same with the French during Louis XIV’s 72-year long kingship (a despot, to be sure) and the English under Elizabeth’s 45-year long rule and Victoria’s nearly 64-year long reign.

Out of fear of despotism, the freedom-loving people of America have preferred to go the other way - limiting their leaders’ terms, especially at the executive level. Only President Roosevelt lasted more than eight years, and the 22nd amendment now makes this impossible.

Furthermore, nearly every president since Lyndon Johnson has been destroyed or neutralized before completing his full term: Johnson’s undoing was Vietnam. That war caused him to abdicate a second term. Nixon: Watergate, of course. Carter was destroyed by the Iranian hostage crisis. Reagan had his Contragate and Clinton was impeached over Monica Lewinsky. Obama ‘s fate during his second term is deja vu all over again.

This is an unruly country, especially at the level of competing elites. We often have the tyranny of the minority. Throughout most of our history, the South has exerted a power disproportionate to its size, as do the rural vote and the Republican Party today.

The Founding Fathers followed Montesquieu’s Trias Politica and established the three-way separation of power as a bulwark against despotism. Clearly, term limits and the separation of power ensure that America cannot be ruled by despots such as Vladimir Putin. But is there a point where such devices may begin to backfire? Would the Founding Fathers not be amazed how successfully paralyzed the federal government has become?

I hope that most of the (pseudo)scandals (Benghazi, for one) plaguing president Obama will blow over. After all, one no longer hears much about Solyndra and Fast-and-Furious, so maybe some of the current “crises” will also fade, despite Fox News.

But maybe this is the beginning of the end for Obama. Maybe his second term will be as frustrating as that of many of his predecessors. Maybe we are becoming ungovernable. The Roman Republic reached that point. It should be possible to strengthen the executive branch without lapsing into despotism. leave comment here