Note from author Ray Smock: This short essay was written at the request of Judi McIntyre who directs the Shepherd University Common Reading Program. Judi asked me if I would participate and I gladly agreed to do so. Each year students and faculty of the University read a book and a number of programs are spun off this common reading. This year we are reading THIS I BELIEVE, edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman. This collection of essays on the individual beliefs of persons from all walks of life is taken from the original This I Believe radio series created by Edward R. Murrow in the 1950s, and brought to life again in recent years on National Public Radio.
I have been a historian for nearly a half century now, and it was my great honor to serve for twelve years as the first official Historian of the U. S. House of Representatives. From a variety of members of Congress, including Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, from several Justices of the Supreme Court that I have met, and from a cadre of dedicated public servants that I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with over the years, I have come to have a deep and abiding love and appreciation of all three branches of the federal government created by the Constitution of the United States. What follows is a brief distillation of my beliefs about government in an age when government is too often perceived as the problem rather than the solution to the challenges facing the nation.
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I believe in the United States Constitution and the government it created. To say this at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st Century needs some explanation. It is not necessarily something all Americans believe. Government is unpopular today. It is torn by factions. It is filled with the poison of extreme partisanship. It is rife with religious sentiment and ideological fervor that prevents the compromises that are essential to good governance.
I believe in the separation of church and state because once God tells you the answer there is no debating it and there is no room for compromise with those of differing views. Citizens and those holding government office should be informed by their religious beliefs and use them to act humanely, something all religions teach. But religion in politics far too often leads to intolerance and the loss of liberty. Much of world history bears this out.
I believe it is the right of every citizen to be critical of government and the decisions of government. We have the right to redress our grievances with government. But when so many Americans consider government itself to be the problem, it is time to stand up for what we could easily lose if the day is carried by cynics, ideologues, and those with some God-given truth.
Our government and our Constitution are only as strong as our will to keep them strong. I believe the United States can withstand its enemies in the world, but I fear for the nation when “We the People” become our own worst enemy. If this government fails it will be from within, from our own irrational actions, rather than from the weapons of a foreign enemy.
Hold on to your hats! I believe in paying more taxes. I believe Oliver Wendell Holmes when he said taxes are what we use to buy civilization. Of course the tax code needs reform. It will always need reform. But Americans do not pay enough taxes and the signs of our crumbling civilization are all around us in decayed cities, aging infrastructure, and no big vision for building for future generations.
I believe we need to disenthrall ourselves completely from our insane debate about taxes, where the mantra “no new taxes” prevails. What is the price of civilization? What is the price without it? When Americans are concerned only about their own pocketbooks, they lack the vision to keep this country going forward. With so many out of work and in poverty how can I be so insensitive to suggest we not be concerned about our own pocketbooks? Of course we should. But the real answer is in a tax policy that takes a larger percentage from those who can afford it. This is not rocket science; it is classic Adam Smith economics going back centuries.
I believe we have a harder time these days figuring out the proper role of government because we are bombarded by new forms of sound-bite communications and slogans that do not serve us well when it comes to being informed about government. These new tools are best at advertising, propaganda, and campaigning. We cannot govern the nation with slogans. The immense systems of global communication should be vigorously applied to the broad public education needed for us to become more effective citizens.
I believe the United States of America is of one of the greatest civilizations in human history. I believe we should work harder and smarter to keep this republic of ours from falling into the dustbin of failed civilizations.