Some Thoughts on Control

Control. A powerful word with powerful connotations. Control, in fact, when surrendered transfers power from one’s self to another; sometimes with dire consequences. Webster’s II New Riverside dictionary defines control as: ‘To exercise dominating influence or authority over.’ I believe, we as a society need to begin to decide in our minds and with our votes just who should have control over our lives. The issues before us and our leaders at this time demand this decision. Control issues involve such things as health care, social security, school vouchers, tax rebates, as well as many others. We must decide who has the control over these areas of our own lives and act and vote accordingly.
Health care, or to be more accurate, socialized health care is a hot topic in this country right now. But before we as a people rush to adopt such a plan, I believe we need to look at the long-term affects of this program. In Canada, socialized health care has led to long delays in treatment, the loss of quality medical care, the loss of qualified doctors to the U.S., and the loss of a patient’s choice of doctor. The control we now enjoy over our medical care and care providers would be turned over to a government employee. Our control over finding the most qualified doctor would be lost, as many doctors would just relocate to where they could earn a decent living, not just a government salary. We would surrender our control over one of the most vital aspects of our lives to an uncaring government.
There are those who become nervous, agitated, and irritated when the subject of privatizing social security is raised. It seems curious to me that anyone, with the social security system in its current state, would advocate leaving his/her contributions in the hands of the government. Has control over one’s own money become a Jurassic ideal in our present system? I, personally, am quite sure I could gain a much higher return on my money than that I could expect from our government run Social Security system. Some have raised questions regarding those who could not or would not invest their own portion; to that I say let those persons stay in their Social Security rolls and continue as they do now. However, for those of us who wish to have control over our own money…why wouldn’t any freedom loving government allow it? The answer, of course, is control. When your government controls your property, i.e. your money, it controls you.
Another area where we lack personal control is that of schooling. Whether you are a CEO or a family living from check to check, I believe you should desire, expect, and receive, the best education for your child. Unfortunately, our education system has become stagnant. There is no need, no impetus, to improve the system we have now, as there is no real competition. This is where the idea of vouchers comes in to play. If each parent had the ability to send his or her children to the best schools, not just those in the neighborhood, then competition alone would cause a rise in the quality of schooling; not just for the rich, but for all children. Basic economics…competition brings quality. In this case, the simple act of exerting control over where and by whom our children are to be educated would actually make for better schools for all.
Next on the list is the idea of tax refunds. In actuality the term ‘tax refund’ is just a euphemism as one is really merely keeping more of one’s own money. Obviously, when a person keeps more of his own money he then has personal control over his own money. One must ask themselves this: Would the government or I spend my money more wisely? I think you know the answer, but here are just two examples of the government’s fiscal competence…a half billion-dollar Millennium Park in Chicago and $500 space shuttle toilets. Control over how one’s money is spent is easier when it is still in one’s own pocket.
Further still is the idea of a National Sales Tax. Ending the income tax, the IRS, Medicare, Social Security and only paying a single tax on all new purchases. This would end all talk of socialism, as every person would then have control of how much tax he/she pays by how much he/she purchases.
There are many more issues where control and the loss of it play roles in our society. We need to start recognizing them and wrenching that control from the government and back into the hands of ‘we the people.’ We must not be willing to cede the control over our lives to our government. As unfortunate peoples of the past have come to realize only too late, when one relinquishes control governments by and large are usually more than happy to take it. When it comes right down to it our personal control is truly our freedom, and freedom should be important to every one of us.