Volume 5, Issue 17
Is there a connection to this theory in society today?
The answer may be yes. By the reaction of various segments of society, there appears to be people living in isolated parallel universes. They may know that a political parallel universe exists, but they do not recognize its right to exist. The students at Berkley, who are attempting to limit speakers on their campus to only those who believe like the majority, are living in a political parallel universe. Berkley is partly funded with public funds paid by taxpayers. Many students are receiving some sort of financial aid. Their right to speak their own mind is based on the First Amendment of the Constitution, defended for 241 years by patriots, including those in the armed services who, in many cases, paid the full measure with their lives. How can those students come to the conclusion that they have the right to censor free speech of others?
These students claim to follow Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who believe that a college education, health care, and a level of income should be guaranteed by federal and state governments. The economic theory espoused by such progressives requires government control of all income in operational redistribution of wealth. Forget the fact that in 6,000 years of recorded history, every single sovereign government that has pursued this economic path has failed. What cannot be forgotten is that government control of all wealth and private spending restricts an individual’s right to the pursuit of happiness as he or she sees fit.
Why is this?
It is because when the government intervenes in the economic activity of a people, it restricts certain types of businesses and business management. Under socialism, small business is restricted. Limiting personal income to a per capita average restricts free choice of purchasing, and virtually eliminates entrepreneurial success. Discussing the expansion of government regulation, without considering its impact on a person’s economic right to the pursuit of happiness, is philosophical negligence.
Recently, Michael Bloomberg, the former billionaire Mayor of New York City, when asked what was his dream, responded, “To run something large like the United Nations.” He settled for New York City. A postal worker may be content to work a strict schedule, execute a specific task, and retire early. Both are right, and neither is wrong in defining pursuit of happiness. But what is just as important is to realize that, in delivering the mail, the postal worker may have facilitated Bloomberg’s ability to run his business. We are all interconnected in pursuit of the American Dream.
Just today, the anchor of a major cable news network asked the question, “What does Dodd-Frank reform have to do with the average citizen anyway?” Dodd-Frank was implemented by progressives to regulate and moderate large banks in the theory of mandating affordable products for consumers without misleading marketing. The actual result was that community banks were so burdened in meeting the regulatory requirements that many have closed or become branches of major banks. Community banks are the primary source of funding for small businesses in a community. Without local banks, small businesses and entrepreneurs struggle to start and maintain successful businesses. Eighty percent of all new jobs created in any given year, in good or bad times, are created by businesses of 25 employees or less. That is how Dodd-Frank impacts the average citizen. I don’t know which is worse, the fact that the news anchor had no clue about the interconnection between Dodd-Frank and local communities, or her emphatic declaration, with intellectual arrogance, that she was superior on the issue of macroeconomics. There is always risk in leaders demanding action on a matter when they don’t know what they don’t know.
What are other parallel universes of a multiverse? They include the Conservative Right which believes in individualism led by the Freedom Caucus in the U.S. Congress, the disillusioned who have lost hope in the establishment led by President Trump, and the Establishment which believes that business as usual can work through tinkering and more efficient management. The members of the Establishment are led by financial institutions, the military-industrial complex, government institutions, and the bureaucrats who serve them. None of these universes are totally wrong in their perspectives or priorities. Nor are they devoid of righteousness. It is the isolated bubble into which Americans are retreating that is the concern for stability. A dysfunctional Congress is the reflection of this isolated detachment.
This paradigm of universes is also playing out worldwide. The Chinese communist banking system is in trouble. They know it, they are asking for help, and they are getting it. The most recent meeting between President Xi and President Trump resulted in more supportive dialog of each other. This is more a result of economic concerns than the North Korean threat.
The current French elections were a rejection of both major parties of France. Said parties had ruled since Charles de Gaulle established the Fifth Republic after World War II. The difference this year is how the Establishment reacted to the populism sweeping the world. The French financial industry not only depends upon the EU, but cannot survive without it. They recruited and supported Emmanuel Macron. He has never held public office, something that is highly unusual for the French socialistic system. He is a former economic minister and investment banker. He is the Establishment’s candidate. Whether or not others helped Marine le Pen, the National Front candidate, who advocates leaving the EU, is yet to be seen. But they did nothing to thwart her rise to support the strategy that she could easily be defeated in a run-off. The French Establishment will pursue a business-as-usual course. The Germans have apparently bought into the analysis that the EU must survive if European banks are to remain solvent. They are buying time.
What would have happened if American banks and large corporations had gotten behind Governor John Kasich, the Emanuel Macron of America, in 2016? It would only have bought time by blurring the line between universes.
In a political multiverse, distinct political universes may live in their own reality for a while, thereby creating alternative realities. But sooner or later, the universes will collide in an overall universal reality, understanding that we are all connected. What is it that allows a multiverse to remain stable through the peaceful co-existence of parallel political universes? It is the recognition of basic absolutes and principles that render righteousness to all citizens. This is not just based on government services providing a utopian life. The government cannot orchestrate such an existence. Freedom to pursue happiness through individualism, with respect for the same rights for others, is the basis of our Constitution. Nothing is more important in this definition of freedom than the words of the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances
Therefore, it is incumbent upon us as Americans to first understand that the pursuit of happiness is as different for each person as individualism defines. And further, it is our obligation to commit to this aspect of freedom, as codified in the Declaration of Independence, as an inalienable right.
In a multiverse, sooner or later, the parallel universes will collapse upon each alternative reality. In this collision, whether we recognize, accept, and respect each other’s reality peacefully, or the ultimate impact is violent, will depend upon our commitment to each other’s freedom and our definition of its pursuit.
My name is Marc Nuttle and this is what I believe.
What do you believe?