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Daniel Thomas
Danielle DeMartin
Senior English
20 October 2014
Government Involvement

Is the United States government in charge of the people, or are the people in charge of it?
This is the question. Since the assassination of President Lincoln the United States has been
changing. The modern United States Government can be said to have changed from its previous
versions. Some people believe that it is changing for the better. While others believe that it is
changing for the worse. Looking at the economies of the world it is shown that the United States
is changing. Looking at the history of the United States Government and of the world people can
tell that the structure of the Government is changing. To know whether or not this is for the
better or worse is important. If the government is changing, what is it changing into?
In 1776 the war that separation of the United States from England was secured with the
Declaration of independence. This was also the same year that Adam Smith published The
Wealth of Nations. This book was then one of the bases of the founding of the United States
Constitution. The summer of 1786 the important people to the founding of the United States
government were secretly planning the writing of the constitution in a church. After tons of
arguing and research they decided on a final copy of the constitution to say what the government
was allowed to do. These people were the wealth and well educated and because of their
knowledge of the history from around the world they were able to put together a document that
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would be known as the starting of the United States government (Nakada). The important part
about this document is it is what the Federal Government is allowed to do.
A little bit later in 1789 the Bill of Rights was ratified and confirmed as a part of the
Constitution. This was designed to protect the American people from the tyranny of the
Government. Thus, when the United States was founded, it was a Free Economy. The
Government wasnt involved in the peoples affairs businesses could be made in the downtown
streets and regulate themselves. Mr. Willy said that the only differences between a Free,
Socialist, Communist, and Traditional economies are the different economic goals (Economics
2014). The different economies are the reasons why we have different governments in the world.
In 1864 the United States of America passed the 13
th
amendment which freed the slaves.
During the time that this was passed, The United States were split into two countries and fighting
a civil war. The week after the war was over President Lincoln was assassinated. When the war
ended the government of the Confederates became intertwined with the United States
government; this is because President Lincoln before he died wanted the South to surrender and
not be tried with treason (Killing Lincoln Chap 5). From this the United States which was a free
market started having the structure of the government being changed into something else.
In 1887 The United States federal government passed the first federal regulation on
private business. It was called the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. Throughout the 1870s the
states started regulating what the railroads could and could not do. In 1886 they ruled that these
laws were unconstitutional therefore passing the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. This was the
start of the progressive movement. The Federal government then put into effect the Interstate
Commerce Commission (ICC); this was the first government agency. When the ICC was
founded, the United States government started changing towards progressivism. Progressivism is
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something that is quoted around progress. The progress that progressives talk about is through
the government. Progressives believe in government control of the peoples lives will make
everything equal providing equality for all. This is false because what the definition of equality is
the same for each person (Dictionary.com). This simply means giving everyone equal
opportunity. Progressives also believe in the distribution of wealth; this is wrong because the
people should be allowed to make a living doing hard work, and not be forced to give it to
someone who doesnt work as hard.
In the year 1900 President Theodore Roosevelt was elected into office. Although he did
great things, he was a progressive and the first thing he did was to stop and regulate the railroads.
This was the first step into government regulation. The next president to start regulating the
economy was Woodrow Wilson. He was a college professor, and governor of New Jersey. He
was elected from 1913 to 1921 during these years the United Nations was founded there were
even more regulations on the economy. The United States started shifting toward a free
enterprise instead of a free economy. From 1914 to 1918 we were involved in World War II
although he got us though it his progressive influence caused the Federal Reserve and the
Federal Trade center. The Federal Reserve made it so that all the gold that the people had was
taken from them in the form of taxes and put in a vault. He was the one who founded the League
of Nations. When he proposed this to congress after the war they though it out. At the start of his
presidency he stated a federal income tax. This took place after the 16
th
amendment was passed
which gave congress the right to set taxes based on income, (OSullivan) instead of the levy
tax that the federal government is allowed to do. And how the taxes were supposed to be by
population that way everyone pays the same rate. After Wilsons stroke he passed an amendment
that would ban alcohol. Since Wilsons socialist progressive views he made the government
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apart of the peoples lives. This was the start of Keynesianism, and the start of government
intervention on the economy.
The next decade in America we started moving back toward a free economy. Everything
was thriving, businesses were doing great, the economy was thriving, but when the stock market
crashed in 1929; it was the end of the free economy and the start of the Free Enterprise. What a
free economy is a place where the government doesnt involve themselves in the economy.
Businesses are allowed to do what they want, how they want, without someone restricting them.
The people have the option for whom to work for. This is important because freedom is a key
thing to know about. For example if a person wanted to be employed by a company, the
company would go through check the persons back-round and find out whether or not they
wanted to employ him. Since the person has the choice to work for the company they can quit at
any time if needed, or be fired at any time depending on how well they do and how much they
cost the company. This gives the people the incentive to work hard and expand. Also in a free
market it is set up so that when a big company fails another company comes in. In doing this it
makes for fresh blood, doing this allows anyone with an idea to become successful. It will also
limit the corruption that is in the economy. Also in a free economy the payment that the people
are given is entirely based upon how much work you do and how much it benefits others.
In a free enterprise these good things are limited. The government plays a vital role in the
economy by regulating businesses. The government also prevents advances by regulating. This is
because of the stock market crash of 1929. In the great depression the government wanted to
help the people get out of the gutter and back into society. The idea of this was good, but how
they went about doing it was wrong. Bill Reynolds said its not what you intended to do, its
what you do the way the government went about picking up the economy was the New Deal.
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The New Deal was a government bill that gave the people programs if they lost their jobs. Right
after the Stock market crash of 1929 the government started the Works Progress Administration
(WPA) the 8,500,000 people hired by them were to do manual labor, building highways,
bridges, etc. Though the Federal Arts Project painters and musicians were paid by the
government to perform for the government, in this 9,500 people were being paid $20 a week.
These and several more were all a part of the first new deal during the 100 days of progressive
legislation. During the second new deal the Social Security Act was passed, this was the first
point of government paying the people. This would take money out of the checks of the people
who were working and give it to the people who cant work anymore. This is called
redistribution of wealth and it is a part of the socialistic ideals. The government got involved in
the economy because of an emergency situation, when this situation was over the role of the
government continued instead of stopped.
Europe, during the stock market crash, was doing badly as well. Germany was struggling
with the debt from World War I and when the economy crashed it allowed Hitler to get into
office. Hitler was a great leader, immoral in many areas but he managed to jump start the
German economy. He believed that the way to success was to take out the weak. These things
that happened were in the name of the Greater Good. Bill Reynolds once said that the greater
good doesnt exist; it is an excuse to do great evil. Using the media in Germany Hitler began
blaming groups for the economic downfall. He then was allowed to change the structure of the
German government. This then caused him to become a dictator where he was allowed to control
the military and get them to do stuff that he wanted. This was then a socialist country because the
government started controlling businesses but the officials were elected into office by the people.
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By the time Pearl Harbor happened in 1941 the United States economy was still in a
depression; and because of this war the factories changed from producing cars and goods to
producing military equipment. Also the government started limiting the amount of goods that
people could get by telling them that the rubber, gasoline, food, would be better suited in the
armys hands rather than theirs. This was the first real time that the federal government came
into the peoples sector and started regulating what they could and couldnt produce. Although
this was justified because our nation was at war doesnt make it right. The government started
getting into peoples lives because of the world depression which means the fundamental
structure of the government was changed. During this time the government was allowed to see
how much power they had. Again the government was putting the programs into place for the
greater good. Once the United States were finally finished with Germany, the United States
started an anti-communist run.
In 1917 the allied nations brought the United States into WWI to defeat Germany. Later
that year when the allied forces were winning Russia dropped out of the war because of an
internal power struggle. The result of this struggle was the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was
the first semi-successful communist nation. The problems that the Soviet Union had were
because of the structure of the government, being a communist nation the government decided
what was produced, and how to distribute it. They also got rid of all private businesses. Farmers
were taken over by large government businesses. This caused a massive food shortage because
the food was made for the government and was attempted to spread evenly among the people.
The jobs the people would work at they didnt have any options. The workers had no incentive to
make the products well. Thus the demand for the products was more than what was available
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because the government was controlling everything that was being produced. This is why after
10 years of being successful Russia started on a very quick decline.
By 1954 communism became a threat to the American Republic. When North Korea
threatened South Korea and started a civil war. South Korea asked for help from the United
States so they could limit the spread of communism. The United States obliged and sent their
men to fight in this civil war without using ground winning tactics. Since the United States didnt
want another World War they didnt want to get China involved so they were at a stale mate and
still are. When the Veterans came back the United States was still moving toward progressivism
but it was slightly slower. By 1970 the United States was trying to control the world economy.
They didnt want the people of the world becoming communist because they believe in freedom
for all. The Vietnam War caused major issues because of the implantation of the draft. It was
racist, sexist, and fanatically unsecure but the government went and picked hundreds of
thousands of people to go to war from off the streets. It also allowed the government to claim the
rights of the people while they were at war.
Today there are more people on welfare then who were ever unemployed in the great
depression. These people are getting more and more benefits for not working. From free food,
free cell service, free housing, free living, and free Wi-Fi. There is nothing that the poor people
cant do. This makes them not want to work because they are already getting everything they
need for free. Then you have people who are smart and can work the system. These people get
the benefits of the poor but can have very well paying jobs. For instance because of marriage
people can be living together unmarried and not get taxed on both the incomes combined.
Therefore making it possible to have a tax exempt person which gives the household more
money than they need, this allows them to get whatever they want and still get benefits for the
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government. This is why the welfare system in America has failed. Also all welfare is, is
redistribution of wealth.
Today there are many issues that are going on within the government. Along the line the
idea of the people being in charge of the government changed and now the government claim to
be in charge of us. The United States is a Republic where elections are held to allow who is in
power. From all the regulations that have been passed in the last 100 years, businesses have been
kicked out of the country. When the government tries to make the sine wave of the economy a
linear line it creates corruption. This corruption gets put into every aspect of the government and
it becomes control over the peoples lives. The welfare state of today is so much that the United
States is becoming bankrupt. The politicians are promoting themselves and voting for raises for
themselves. Some of them are even in office for 6-8 6 year terms. What needs to happen now is
the American people need to inform themselves about what the Federal Government is doing.
They need to know how they can stop the corruption. Some of the policies that are involved
make it so that the people running for office can continuously go through the process. The
American people need to set a limit on how many terms the politicians are allowed to have.
Instead of allowing them to be in for 40 years, make the maximum amount you can serve 20.