Interview with Robert Wickes

The Myth America Pageant: How Government & Politics Really Affect the Ordinary Joe
Robert Wickes
Infinity Publishing (2006)
ISBN 0151012393
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (1/07)

Reader Views talks with Robert Wickes, author of the “The Myth America Pageant: How Government and Politics Really Affect the Ordinary Joe.” Robert is being interviewed by Juanita Watson, Assistant Editor of Reader Views.

Juanita:  Thanks for joining us today Robert.  We are excited to hear more about your book “The Myth America Pageant: How Government and Politics Really Affect the Ordinary Joe.”  Would you start by telling us what your book is about?

Robert:  Ronald Reagan once said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I'm from the government and I'm here to help.’”  This book explains how those nine words have become our greatest “myth.”  It is about the balance between ourselves and our government for control of our individual lives.

Juanita:  Robert, who do you consider an “ordinary Joe”?  What percentage of “ordinary Joe’s” make up the total population of the United States?

Robert:  Ordinary Joes includes everyone who has an ordinary background and had ordinary opportunities.  I’m an ordinary baby boomer from an ordinary middle class family where my father worked and my mother took care of the family.  I went to public school, and my folks helped me get through four years of college.  I had no scholarships, so I worked all sorts of odd jobs to get through school and get started in my career.  What makes someone “ordinary” is not where they end up, but the nature of the chances and opportunities they had.  It is up to each of us individually to make the most of them.  Today, most “Ordinary Joes” have, for some portion of their lives, lived paycheck to paycheck; worry about their retirement; think their taxes are too high; fret about paying their car loan or their mortgage; use their credit cards too much; juggle bills for their kid’s orthodontist, school clothes, and soccer uniforms; worry about losing their job; or they run a small business and wonder how to pay the rent, utilities, employee taxes, health care, workman's comp, and keep their customers coming back.  And, of course, it includes everyone who finds themselves shaking their head when Congress does almost anything.  And that includes, I think, most all of us.

Juanita:  Robert, do you think governments and politicians are in any way concerned about the “ordinary Joe”?

Robert:  A government is not a living being, per se, so it cannot have “concern.”  It is, however, made up of bureaucrats and politicians who are in positions of power over the rest of us Ordinary Joes.  At some very low levels of government, and certainly within many new politicians there often is initially, at least, a degree of concern for their constituents.  But it is intuitively obvious that the vast majority of politicians are less concerned with solving problems for their state or the nation than they are with obtaining and re-taining their positions of power of others.  Power is an incredible elixir and rare is the holder who yields it easily.

Juanita:  How long have you been a critic of government and political systems? 

Robert:  Let me make one thing very clear.  I am not anti-government.  I am anti-stupid government.  There are but three political states that can exist:  Liberty, tyranny, and chaos.  A limited government primarily concerned with protecting our individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness creates an environment of law and order in which peace and prosperity can most easily flourish.  But the larger the government the greater the power that is wielded and the closer we venture towards tyranny.

Juanita:  What inspired you to write your book?

Robert:  The establishment of this nation has to rank as one of the grandest experiments in world history.  It was the first time there was a specific, well-defined contractual balance of power between a government and its people.  It has had its problems over the years, of course, such as its treatment of an indigenous people and the enslavement of others.  But overall it became the most politically stable and economically prosperous nation ever—not by what the government did but by what it didn’t do.  Unfortunately, over the past 75 years we have gradually abandoned the successful formula of individual rights, free enterprise, and limited government—with drastic social consequences.  In The Myth America Pageant, I’m merely trying to show others how this is happening and why we must reverse the trend if we are to remain the “shining light on the hill.”

Juanita:  You talk about the simple “Undeniable Truth,” that builds the framework for your book.  What is this truth, and would you explain?

Robert:  In the entire history of mankind, each of the more than 14,000 wars as well as all other forms of conflict arise as the result of an attempt by one person or group to impose their will upon another.  The imposition of will can occur on the battlefield or in the voting booth.  It doesn’t matter.  The commonality is that one side is imposing their will upon another.  This is not to say that no war is worth fighting (at least for one side) or that all government is bad.  The fact remains that when such imposition occurs conflict can arise.  The larger the war—or the larger the government—the greater the imposition.  And both wars and governments, no matter how well-intentioned, are wasteful of resources and destructive of economic wealth.  So the corollary ought to be that if you wish to enhance peace and promote prosperity you need to consider limiting the power to impose will.

Juanita: What are some of the specific issues that you address in “The Myth America Pageant”?

Robert: To fully explore the day-to-day ways in which government and politics affect the Ordinary Joe, I begin by tracing the philosophical, historical, and economic consequences of various types of government and economic systems, and the abuses of power which can arise in them.  Combined with an understanding of the Undeniable Truth, it is then possible to examine, with a consistent perspective, any issue such as jobs, healthcare, social security, gun control, education, the environment, taxation, our legal system, or even some of the hot button social issues of the day—including religion, family, and marriage.

Juanita:  In what ways, obvious and not so obvious, will a war affect the infrastructure of a country, and the lives of “ordinary Joe’s”?

Robert: Death, of course, always has a pretty serious affect on someone’s life.  But wars are also enormously expensive.  Every dollar that is spent must be first extracted from the private economy, thus eliminating the ability of that dollar to grow, or create jobs.  If the money is simply printed by the government, then as those dollars are injected into the economy they become inflationary.  Most major wars have been followed by a period of serious inflation.  Just ask poor Gerald Ford.  Remember “Whip Inflation Now!”?  If the dollars spent on wars are borrowed domestically, it reduces the amount of capital available for people to start businesses, or for existing companies to expand and create more jobs, or for individuals to borrow for cars and mortgages.  Interest rates rise as competition for those dollars expands.  And if the dollars are loaned to the government by foreign investors or governments, it creates the potential for foreign manipulation of our currency or our economy.

Juanita:  How does your book chart the progress of political systems through the ages?  How do you make this complex subject easy-to-understand?

Robert: I’d like to introduce you to two good friends of mine:  Grok and Bonk.  They are a couple of cavemen I had some fun with to illustrate the nature of social organization and the lust for power.  The evolution of political systems is largely the ongoing struggle between liberty and power—that is, the conflict between man’s desire to control his own life and the desire by others to hold power over him.  Power generally wins. 

Juanita:  What are your thoughts on the current administration and the high amount of controversy surrounding many of its choices over the past several years?

Robert: They forgot where they came from.  For decades, Republicans argued for limited government, free enterprise, and personal responsibility and accountability.  That was largely the message of Ronald Reagan and the so-called Republican Revolution of 1994.  But once they were in power in Congress, and more so since W took the White House in 2000, they realized that the best way to stay in power was to pander to voting blocs.  They abandoned the very philosophy that had convinced people to vote for them.  Instead of limiting the role of government in our lives and promoting a job-creation environment, what did we get?  A federal budget that has grown 500% faster than the economy; the biggest new federal spending program in 40 years (Medicare Part D); a massive overhaul of the education system which almost totally annihilated local control; and 200 pages of new tax code and regulations added to the Federal Register—every day!  September 11 certainly required military response, but Iraq could have been handled in a much simpler manner.  I give some specific ideas in Chapter 24, but suffice it to say it doesn’t make much sense to reduce an entire country to rubble and then spend ourselves into bankruptcy trying to rebuild it.

Juanita:  Robert, how do you feel about the credibility of mainstream media – TV, radio and newspaper? How do you suggest people get their news and information these days?

Robert:  Their credibility is in the toilet.  The CBS/Dan Rather episode before the 2004 election is a good example.  It didn’t matter that the story had been made up; it was a story that expressed a viewpoint that they agreed with and therefore it was worth reporting as news.  Then there was the recent story of widespread cheating at the Columbia School of Journalism—on an ethics exam!  Most of the mainstream national television news organizations are anything but fair and balanced.  The most innovative investigational work being done today is by internet sources.  Remember, it was a bunch of bloggers in pajamas who uncovered the truth about the Dan Rather story.  It’s amazing how far ahead of the curve many internet sites are.

Juanita:  What makes your perspective unique, and your book different from other political books on the market today?

Robert:  Most political books today are written either by current, former, or aspiring politicians hoping to appeal to their voter base; by media personalities hoping to turn their popularity into the next bestseller; or by educators who are likely to bore you to tears.  They get published because they have “credentials” in their field.  My credentials are far simpler—40 adult years’ experience as an Ordinary Joe trying to raise a family and run a business while putting up with all the nonsense forced on me by my elected representatives.  Rather than giving a lecture or a sermon, I preferred to just have a friendly conversation with the reader.  And we have some fun along the way.

Juanita: Robert, why do you think it appears that so many people these days have lost their common sense?

Robert: We have been taught that the free enterprise system is inherently flawed and that only government can ensure “fairness.”  We have evolved from a society of individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to one of group rights and the guarantee of happiness regardless of the cost to our liberty.  We all know that in our homes and our business we cannot indefinitely spend more money than we make without serious financial consequence.  Yet we allow our government to operate that way because our politicians assure us that we can all become prosperous by the toil of someone else.  Roll models—in politics, in business, in athletics, and in entertainment—have shown us that we do not have to be accountable for our own actions.  The younger generations are not seeing the value of diligence in school or climbing the ladder of success. 

Juanita:  Robert, how can the “ordinary Joe” change the affect government and politics has on their lives?  Is this possible?  What solutions do you offer?

Robert:  Question everything they hear.  Challenge conventional wisdom.  And make an effort to educate themselves.  Most people only know what they hear on the evening news or read in the first two paragraphs of a newspaper story.  Most of all they need to get involved in the political process; make sure your representatives really “represent” you.  If they do something in office contrary to what they said on the campaign trail, take them to task over it.  Hold their feet to the fire.

Juanita:  What do you feel are the major threats to our liberty today?

Robert:  I recently posted a short article, ”The Top 10 Threats to Our Liberty” on my website blog (http://www.mythamericabooks.com/blog), which lists the usual suspects.  But the top two?  Voter apathy and ignorance, and self-interested politicians.

Juanita:  Robert, what is the underlying message of your book?

Robert:  The imposition of will by some over others underlies all human conflict and the opportunity for peace and prosperity can be best enhanced by limiting such imposition.  In our nation, this could be accomplished by adhering to the original intentions of the Founding Fathers when they wrote the Constitution.

Juanita:  How can readers find out more about you and your endeavors?

Robert: I would invite them to visit my website, www.mythamericabooks.com.  If that’s not enough for them, they can always drop me a line.  The people who are in the best position to make the changes that would really help this country find it, unfortunately, not in their best interests to do so voluntarily.  So it’s up to us Ordinary Joes to show them why they must.

Juanita:  Robert, you have certainly given us much to think about today.  We appreciate the opportunity to hear more about your new book “The Myth America Pageant: How Government and Politics Really Affect the Ordinary Joe,” and encourage readers to look for it at local and online bookstores.  Do you have any last thoughts you’d like to share?

Robert: It is extraordinarily tempting to view big government solutions as the best way to solve society’s problems. But as we’ve just witnessed an entire century of failed experiments in big government elsewhere in the world, we must be extraordinarily cautious about our current rush to embrace it in America. We must always keep the “Undeniable Truth” in mind and remember that human conflict can only be reduced by protecting individual rights and respecting the equal rights of others.

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