Hooked on Money

Boone County Addicted

to the "Greenways" Boondoggle

James Duvall, M. A.

Big Bone, Kentucky

"It is liberating to refuse money —
ask me how I know."

There are people who are addicted to drugs. They will give almost any excuse to get one more fix, and some of them are extreme, but of all the arguments put forth I have never heard of anyone using the excuse "If I don’t take this cocaine someone else will!" But that is exactly how our officials in Boone County argue to support their money addiction to the Federal money pipeline. I suggest that if another Kentucky county takes the dough that is their problem; as for us, we should do our part in breaking the cycle of addiction. Even one step away from dependence on Federal dollars, be it ever so small, is a step in the right direction.

If someone suggests that a kick in the leg might be the just reward for voting to increase Federal spending right now, they should have the courage of their convictions, and vote NO. For myself, I think that a good kick from the rear, aimed a bit higher, might do more good.

Speaking of Federal funding, a few hundred thousand dollars, more or less, is not the real issue — though it adds up fast enough — the Fed can print all the dollars it wants to, for now — the real issue is Control. Government ownership of property means government control, whether this be at the Federal, State, or Local level. This is not a new idea. Quintin Hogg, a member of the British Parliament, wrote in The Case for Conservatism (Penguin, 1947), p. 97: "private property — including some large fortunes — is the natural bulwark of liberty because it ensures that economic power is not entirely in the hands of the State." This is being slowly eroded, and insult is added to injury when we are forced to pay for this erosion with our own tax money.

The issue now is about more than control — it is about self-control: "Everybody is doing it!" is not a good excuse for a teenager, much less people in positions of trust and responsibility. The Boone County court had here a perfect chance to make a decisive statement that would give our county some real credibility when it comes time to take about taxes and spending, both here in Kentucky, and to the rest of the nation. It is liberating to refuse to take money — ask me how I know. There is no tax money "given away" by our Federal government that has no strings attached.

I had hoped that we could be leaders in what must soon become a sweeping movement of demanding fiscal restraint and responsibility, if our government, and probably with it, our way of life, is not to collapse under the weight of debt incurred for what are essentially trivialities. Nothing can save us from our own greed and stupidity. We must have the courage to break the cycle of money dependence, and the only time to do that is now. Instead of trying to beat other areas of the state and nation to the dollar trough, why don’t we show them the alternative.

Our county needed to send a message that was much more important that hoarding a few more acres of land among its growing holdings, and increasing its economic clout at private expense. It is true that our county would have lost about $235,000 in Federal matching highway funds — tax money — but it would show that money is not always more important than words and actions.

It would also have sent a strong clear message to the electorate that the county is not trying to revive the Greenways Plan. One of our Commissioners remarked: "This has trails and Greenways written all over it." And so it does. Yet he still voted for it. There were many other indications, both overt, and subtle, brought up at the discussion in court that the county Administration has every intention of implementing this plan that the voters overwhelmingly rejected. I think this is going to have huge political consequences at the next election.

Is it possible to cure an addict? Yes it is, and it is not as difficult as people think. Theodore Dalrymple, pseudonymn for a British doctor, author of Romancing Opiates (Encounter, 2006), tells us that breaking an addiction is not as difficult as people have been led to believe. He wrote an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, that bastion of GOP conservatism, in which he points out that of course the addicts have "histronic displays of suffering", provoked by the presence of anyone who can prescribe a substitute for them; but you won’t hear this from addicts and therapists, who have a vested interest in promoting the orthodox view. Remember the Chinese opium dens which involved millions of Chinese? Where did they all go? According to this article: "And in China, millions of Chinese addicts gave up with only minimal help: Mao Tse-Tung's credible offer to shoot them if they did not. There is thus no question that Mao was the greatest drug-addiction therapist in history." ("Poppycock" WSJ, 25 May 2006, p. A-14.) Of course the Journal article has been attacked by the therapists, but what does that prove?

We are going to be told over and over that breaking the money cycle is impossible, impractical, and just plain nonsense. However, the fact remains that everything the government spends it takes from someone else, that is, it was private property. The control over public funds can only be properly controlled where they originate, at the local level. Franklin Roosevelt once said: "If we can boondoggle our way out of the Depression, that word is going to be enshrined in the hearts of American people for years to come." Have you ever noticed how often that word comes up? The truth is, we never really got out of the so-called Depression, we just continued to cover up the problem with government spending for wars and social programs. We are now addicted to boondoggles. And of course Boone County has shown it is still in on the big government Boondoggle; but let me warn you, we ain’t going to boondoggle our way out of this one; now we’ve got to pay for it.

James Duvall, M. A.
Big Bone University: A Think Tank, Research Institute, & Public Policy CenterNec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.Big Bone, Kentucky
24 Dec 2011.

Note. For a copy of the article "Poppycock" see: http://www.manhattaninstitute.org/html/_wsj-poppycock.htm