Thinking It Through: What is government of, by and for the people?

Richard Reeb
For the Victorville Daily Press
Richard Reeb

Abraham Lincoln concluded his Gettysburg Address on Nov. 17, 1863, with a ringing affirmation of Americans' right to govern themselves. The battlefield that raged four months earlier was commemorated with ceremonies featuring the great orator, Edward Everett, who spoke for two hours, and Lincoln, who spoke for just over two minutes.

Brevity conveys high purpose more effectively than elaboration. Despite Lincoln’s certitude, the fate of government by the people was entirely in the power of contending armies to determine.

Let that wartime uncertainty remind us that popular government, as our founders called it, is always on trial. It has had enemies from the beginning, be they overbearing monarchs, military conquerors, oppressive oligarchs, modern dictators or cruel slave masters. There is always an excuse for denying human beings their rights, whether disorder, poverty or pandemics.

This column, though, is mainly about what human liberty is. It’s easy to say we should do as we please, but some people’s notion of pleasure includes violence, destruction and deceit. Common sense, no less than political philosophy and Scripture, should tell us that not everything is permitted and that the rule of law and right reason are preferable to decrees and whims.

Equally important is knowing what liberty is for. If it can’t, and mustn’t, be simply whatever our passions incline us to, then it must serve a good purpose. An indispensable starting place is to understand that the proper exercise of our rights depends upon acknowledging and respecting the rights of others no less than ourselves. That takes us a long way toward making liberty safe and satisfying.

But there is more. The founding generation used the terms liberty and self-government interchangeably. These virtual synonyms have individual and social aspects. That is, a free individual is a self-governed individual, and a nation of free individuals must agree to abide by a constitution that protects the rights of all, and promotes the public good and our common interests.

Neither individuals nor nations are abstract or theoretical entities. They are human in their character and institutions. They are embodied souls that exhibit freedom more than anything else, but they are no less in need of government.

Let us be emphatic about the fundamental question of who rules under our Constitution. While we have authorized persons representing us to make, enforce and adjudicate laws, this is indeed a government of, by and for the people — a government of many.

Such a regime is impossible and unworkable without self-government by citizens. That is, they must understand and acknowledge that there are limits to their power, in both their private and public lives. That limit was clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence, which is grounded in “the laws of nature and of nature’s God” and which, by the power of our creator, endows us all with equal rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Liberty and self-government, in other words, can’t be a license to do whatever we want. Fortunately, we are the inheritors of a religious and learned tradition that teaches us to “do unto others as we would have them do unto (us),” and that it is better to follow reason than passion.

No less important than appreciating the benefits of these traditions is welcoming the immense moral and intellectual value of managing our lives by our best lights. A well-governed people is a confident, just and decent people.

The greatest threat today to this well-ordered liberty is the seductive idea that we cannot be trusted to make decisions without the direct supervision of experts, whatever their credentials. We should appreciate the wise leadership of genuinely enlightened statesmen, but we prosper when we are sure in the knowledge that we, the people, are in charge of our lives and country.

Laws must prohibit force and fraud, and encourage the best in us. But the surest guarantee that things are as they should be is that we willingly place limits on ourselves and our government for our own good.
