Do you believe that people are basically good, or are they bad and in need of salvation? Curiously, that philosophical debate is at the crux of the political struggle in this country and the world today.

Humans can be amazingly generous, selfless, and willing to sacrifice for a greater good. They can also tolerate dictators, mind numbing regulation and the loss of even the most basic freedoms.

Glenn Beck is devoting a great deal of air time on his radio and television shows to the proposition that there is a conspiracy to take the freedoms that Americans enjoy away from them. Call the plotters Communists, Socialists or Liberals, they have formed a multitude of groups for the sole purpose of enslaving Americans and destroying our way of life.

The politicians of the Democratic and the Republican Parties in the United States are guilty of acting in their own self interest. American voters are, as well. Politicians use their power to bribe the voters and the people who give money to campaigns. voters re-elect politicians based upon what they can bring to their districts.

It’s all very venial and not anything to be proud of. By electing politicians, the voters are saying that they prefer that others take care of them and provide governance and direction.

Let’s talk about speed limits on the highway. Speed limits, the laws that enforce them and the police who enforce the laws exist because SOME PEOPLE cannot be trusted to do the right thing and drive at a safe speed. You and I always drive safely. We may speed just a little, but that is because we are very busy and have important things to do. SOME PEOPLE need to be controlled because they interfere with that. SOME PEOPLE also think that they’re special and act like it, so they ought to be punished.

Replace speed control with any other legal issue and you see the problem. Self-centered thinking. It drives everything in politics.

Are their groups that are actively promoting the destruction of the United States? There are. However, most of what Glenn Beck and others see as a Communist plot is merely people acting as is their nature, to ensure their own comfort and lack of responsibility and self importance.

Ideology and theology have little real say in American politics. Sorry, Glenn, but the driving forces behind the people and groups you see as a threat is selfishness. They need speed limits so that they can speed. They need limits on speech so they can be heard. The threat is not from an overarching conspiracy but from human nature and a wish to never have responsibility.

This is the first in a series of essays where I will explore the necessary foundation of a political party to replace the Republican Party. I do not call for the disillusion of that party. It remains to be seen if it can be salvaged. In the history of the United States, however, a new party with principles and commitment can grow and become a successor to one that has failed.

The Constitution of the United States is one of the most remarkable documents ever produced by man. It seeks to limit the power of the national government and to curb the powers of government at all levels. It defines the three branches of government with their checks and balances, a system that is demonstrably better than the parliamentary forms preferred by the social democracies of the world.

America is not a social democracy. Its basic tenant is that government is limited by nature and by written constraint. A political party that is true to the Constitution and the intent of the Founders will have as its primary principle that it should advocate nothing for government that can be done by the people.

Our Founders lived in a time and place that produced a cultural bias. Our nation cannot live and act as it did two hundred years ago. Each step we take that emboldens government, though, is one that should be measured against the original freedoms and not be an act of refutation of some long ago belief system.

Many of my beliefs could be classified as those of a “social conservative”. I reject that label because I do not believe that our basic freedoms should be restricted by government to prevent adults from making choices that may be immoral. The party I would build allows adults to make their own choices about what they do, who they associate with and how they spend their time and money.

During the period between the Presidential election and the inauguration in January I will be writing a great deal about governance, political parties and how to preserve our liberties. I will not be commenting on the actions, intent or faults of the President-elect. The eleven weeks until the new President takes office is best spent in thought and contemplation of those things that make the United States unique and valued in the world and to its citizens.

Politicians commit a variety of sins against the American taxpayer on a routine basis. We elect them. We pay their salaries. They have made promises to us. Then, they turn around and do these things:

• Run for Another Office:
  If you are elected for a term as a Senator, fulfill your duties in that position for the entire term. Do not spend one minute of our term running for another office. If you must run, resign your current office and allow it to be filled by someone who will work at that position. We elected you to do a job. Don’t job hunt on our dime.
• Take Unlimited Sick Days:
  If you have a long term illness, or are dying, resign. Don’t stay in an elected position where you are not able to vote, or even come to your office. It is not fair to the people who elected you to hold office when you cannot perform your duties.
• Don’t Show Up For Work:
  We elected you to serve in an office. That means that you show up. Missing votes is wrong. Missing 20% of the votes is very wrong.
• Taking Junkets:
  Most American voters cannot take off and travel the world on a moment’s notice. Winter junkets to warmer climes aren’t part of your job description. Conferences in Las Vegas are not part of your job description.
• Act Special and Feeling Entitled:
  Humility is a virtue that we all should practice. Politicians that receive preferential treatment are abusing the voters who elected them. No one likes people who cut ahead in lines. The voters ought to be more important than the politicians.
• Spinning:
  Stuff happens. Take it like a grownup. Admit mistakes early and honestly. Don’t swim away from your problems.

This is just a brief list of things that our elected officials do every day that are wrong. They work for us. Imagine what your boss would do to you if you acted like this? Maybe, just maybe, we ought to do the same to those politicians who abuse our trust.