I’ve spent the last few posts discussing how political parties and choosing sides in general can have some negative consequences, especially when there’s a lack of independent thought. However, I do firmly believe that it’s important to stand for and believe in something – but what should we believe in?

I think a core problem in our society comes from the fact that people start believing in means rather than ends. I see this phenomenon in religion as well as politics. Some people often focus on religious institutions, personalities, practices, and rituals (the means) so much, that they no longer become concerned with their personal behavior and relationship with God (the ends). I believe we commit the same mistake in politics. The Right generally believes in individual responsibility and limited government while the Left generally believes in social intervention and distribution of power. I think these are mostly means to achieve a greater goal, not necessarily ends. So what’s the ultimate goal? The Preamble of our Constitution makes this quite apparent. “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” So the ultimate goal of government is promoting is a more perfect Union, justice, peace, defense, welfare, and liberty. If we focus our energy on the means, we might lose track of the ends – or at best fail to notice that there might be a better path to the ultimate goal.

There are times when social intervention might be necessary to “promote the general welfare,” and times when limited government might be the path of “securing the blessings of liberty,” but there are also times when these means are not the most effective. The problem arises when we have already decided the correct course of action before we’ve even examined the problem. When we talk about health care, the economy, or any other issue, we should be talking about our duty to promote the general welfare and discuss together how that might be best achieved. Instead Republicans come to the discussion thinking their end goal is to limit the government’s role in private life, and the Democrats come with the goal of socializing the issue. We are missing the chance to achieve the true end goal because we’ve already made the decision about the means to achieve it.
I’d like to think that most people believe in the same ultimate goals, but just fall into different camps based on their thoughts about the best path to reach those goals. But, as I’ve asked before, how is it that so many people think the best path is always the same: limited government or social intervention, regardless of the issue? It seems to me that perhaps at least some people have begun believing in the means and lost track of the end goal. So what are my political beliefs? I believe in a government that seeks to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. I believe that there are many means for achieving these goals. Sometimes capitalism and free market principles are the best means; sometimes pursuing greater economic equality through social intervention is necessary. Sometimes the government must pass laws to support traditional values; sometimes it must abandon the traditions of the past to achieve progress. Sometimes the system must rely on individual accountability; sometimes it must actively decentralize power. I believe we need to approach each issue individually and thoughtfully, and wait to decide on the means until after we’ve examined the problems and desired ends.