RJA’s Iron Laws of Power

Iron Law of Power # 1: "For every personal dependency on government intervention, there will be a proportionate loss of individual liberty."— RJA

 

Iron Law of Power #2: When the individual ceases to express his right to enterprise, government will do it for him. — RJA

 

Iron Law of Power #3: The government that subsidizes corporate mediocrity will inherit economic sloth. — RJA

 

Iron Law of Power #4: In true democracy an informed electorate gets exactly the government it deserves. And conversely: so does an uninformed electorate. — RJA

 

Iron Law of Power #5: When a free press becomes an extension of the government will, the First Casualty is Truth. — RJA

 

Iron Law of Power #6: The first act of the demagogue is to label the opposition as "extremists." — RJA

 

Iron Law of Power #7: When reasonable people withdraw from reasoned debate, power always falls to the lunatic fringe. — RJA

 

Iron Law of Power #8: Democracy starts to dismantle when leaders, sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution, choose instead to disregard it. — RJA

 

Iron Law of Power #9: Freedom is greatest when the rules are clearly defined. Democracy is always in peril by the rule of the mob. (The right to free speech also entails the moral obligation to respect the free speech of others. It is, and always has been, a razor's edge.) — RJA

 

Iron Law of Power #10: The greatest tyranny is the fear of new ideas. — RJA

 

Iron Law of Power # 11: When your enemies start to praise you it's because you are advancing their agenda. — RJA

 

Iron Law of Power #12: A half-truth is also a half-lie. — RJA

 

Iron Law of Power #13: The surest way for bad legislation to advance its cause is through the slow relentless numbing of the public will. (Wake up, America!)

 

Iron Law of Power # 14: The surest way for Democracy to fail is for incompetents to hold high office. (Our political gene pool has become an international disgrace. Our allies are tearing their hair out. Our enemies consider us comically naïve. The proposed Health Care Plan has become nothing but the by-product of shoddy deal making [while the Republicans only response to everything is “just say no.”] Jimmy Carter has had to apologize to Israel. And Janet Napolitano should resign.)

 

Iron Law of Power #15: Democracy unravels geometrically when the politicians finally drive out all statesmen. (Just as in Shockley's Law problem causers reproduce in far greater numbers than problem solvers, this is happening now!)

 

Iron Law of Power #16: In a democracy, the people get exactly the kind of government they're willing to tolerate. No more. No less.

 

Iron Law of Power # 17: The press is the lowest common denominator of moral behavior. A government that can no longer manipulate the press will soon lose all its leverage.

 

Iron Law of Power #18: The Death of a Democracy starts when the public loses all trust in information.

 

Iron Law of Power #19: Any Republic that allows popular pressure to undermine its laws is bound to lose its soul.

 

Iron Law of Power #20: An informed Electorate is the best safeguard against tyranny.

 

Iron Law of Power #21: The final act of destroying an economy occurs when a government defrauds itself.

 

Iron Law of Power #22: In a Democracy, public indifference is the final abdication of power. It is the ultimate growth medium for tyranny.

 

Iron Law of Power #23: The House of Freedom collapses, not by any explosion, but by removing one small brick at a time. (The FDA just issued a cease and desist against Cupcakes for the Cure, Surfing for the Cure, Suzan B. Komen for the Cure, and a dozen other charities, for using the word, “Cure,” in their title—even though they sell no product and offer no procedures. Now the Health Standard Act has given this pernicious bureau unlimited powers over our food chain. Are you listening America?)

 

Iron Law of Power #24: In any revolution the Middle Path implodes.

 

Iron Law of Power #25: In any totalitarian regime, Protest, if it comes at all, is repressed with swift and vicious resolution.

 

Iron Law of Power #26: It is the hardening of ideology that destroys all acts of reason.

 

 

Iron Law of Power #27: It is not by any revolution but the slow erosion of our personal freedoms that democracy is lost forever.

 

Iron Law of Power # 28: When the Fifth Estate stops reporting news and starts to invent it, the public will cease to recognize the truth when it comes.

 

Iron Law of Power #29: When any government undermines its own laws, anarchy will be the result.

 

Iron Law of Power #30: Big Government is a Monster of Chaos. The larger it grows, the more repressive and inefficient it becomes.

 

Iron Law of Power #31: Individual enterprise will shrink in direct proportion to swelling Bureaucracy. E.g. The last Campbell Soup factory in California just shut down, because (due to taxation, state regulations and production restrictions) it cost more to produce a can of soup here than it would in Texas or North Carolina…even though virtually 100% of the ingredients were grown in California. Instead, they will ship the produce across the country and package and distribute in other states.

 

Iron Law of Power #32: All political decisions are based in economics. Innovation will be always be trumped by industrial protectionism. (Safe Thorium energy has been available since the 1970s. You do the math.)