Self-Interest and Central Government

Karl Marx was a critical opponent of capitalist injustice, pointing to some of Great Britain’s immoral labor practices of the late 19th century as proof of the failure of capitalism. Instead, he proposed the formation of a centralized government to take care of the people. It was this philosophy that was the foundation of fascism and communism.

The philosophy focused on the call for a rise of the working class in social status. But who really gets helped by a central government?

Politicians, like everyone else, are looking to do what’s best for themselves. Self-interest is the driving force of all decisions. Even those who choose to put others above themselves do so because the satisfaction of sacrifice is greater than the sacrifice. Those of faith make decisions on the hope of future rewards. Those who act out of love do so because the emotional impact of not acting would be greater than the personal consequences of acting. All our decisions are founded in our understanding of how that decision will affect ourselves.

Politicians toot their own horn, make lovely speeches about how noble they are with their policies to help others, and scratch each other’s backs behind the scenes to get what they want. It’s getting hard to find a politician that isn’t getting benefits beyond the permissibility of law from those looking for a political favor. Everyone’s just trying to maximize their self-interests.

So I find it very interesting that so many would be willing to put all their eggs into the politicians’ basket. Who would a central government really help? Theoretically, it helps the working class, the proletariat. But Marx’s theory fails to account for politicians personal self-interest. If politicians could completely remove decisions based on self-interest from their politics, Marxist theory could potentially hold water. But the law of self-interest has proven itself over and over again throughout history. It is this law that has led to the well-know Lord Acton observation that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

If central government planners, then, are in it for their own interests, who do their policies help? Obviously themselves, and those for whom they are providing the favors. It is akin to a market exchange. Companies or individuals exchange a service that a politician wants for a political service that that company or individual wants. It’s a favor for a political policy change. Each party is benefitted in the exchange. However, unlike a normal market exchange, these policy changes are at the expense of the third party, who is not a participant of the exchange. Giving one special interest group a political favor is always at the expense of another group (usually the general public).

The founders of this nation were well on the right track in understanding that government was a necessary evil, and must be designed with limited power. For when the power of the government exceeds the power of the people, that government always results in tyrannical rule, governing for the governor’s sake at the expense of the people. It’s the law of self-interest.