The Heart of the Matter

There is a curious phenomenon this election cycle that has been building for decades and has now come into full blossom.

Forty years ago a president could not have been elected if he did not support family, marriage, and faith. This year, this 2012 campaign, such positions at least in some vocal quarters are considered to be too right wing to be acceptable to the voting public.

We’re not talking about government mandates for religious observance or lack of help for those in difficult situations. Rather, it’s a simple acknowledgement of the lessons of history. It acknowledges that if the family gets weaker, the government gets larger. It acknowledges that society is based on the family and perpetuates itself through values passed on through the family. It acknowledges that faith plays a dominant role in providing the rules of a civil society without government coercion. And it acknowledges that government’s role is to base its policies on upholding and encouraging such intermediary institutions rather than hindering and discouraging them.

This presidential cycle we’re being treated to the subtle propaganda that the main focus should be on economics, and indeed that is one central issue. But today the candidate who tells the truth is skewered as a right wing nut. And the truth is our economic problems are no more and no less than a reflection of our cultural problems. No matter that there is a demonstrable correlation between single parenthood and poverty. No matter that learning to work at an early age breaks the cycle of dependency on public and private charity. No matter that defining one’s self-worth on the ownership of stuff leads to unsustainable debt.

The bastion of freedom against intrusive government is the intermediary institutions of family, faith, charitable institutions, and the army of volunteers that provide their energy. A government dedicated to protecting liberty will encourage such institutions rather than co-opting or minimizing them.