On March 1, about $85 billion in automatic, across-the-board federal spending cuts are scheduled to go into effect. For the last several weeks, members of the federal government and the media have touted the sequestration cuts as yet another looming fiscal crisis of doomsday proportions. Entire government departments will be brought to their knees. Layoffs will rip through the public sector. The members of Congress and their families will starve. Or, so we are told.

Interestingly enough, even after the “draconian” sequestration cuts, the government would still spend more this fiscal year than they did last fiscal year. Only in Washington D.C. could proposed decreases to the rate of future spending increases be twisted into meaning real, painful spending cuts. But, real spending cuts are exactly what we need. Below is a graph of federal spending since 1947.

Annual federal spending has more than doubled since 2000. The looming automatic cuts to future increases total about 2% of current spending levels. However, these cuts will not all happen at once on March 1st. The sequestration cuts will be phased in over a period of several months.  In fact, only about $44 billion in cuts will take place this year. The remaining balance applies to spending obligations that extend over multiple years. Without question the sequestration cuts represent less than a drop in the bucket and fail to substantively address the issue of the massive fiscal leviathan that is the US government.

All of this political posturing is nothing new. The sequestration debacle is politics as usual in Washington DC. Politicians package events like the Debt Ceiling Crisis, the Fiscal Cliff, and the Sequestration Crisis as individual crises to causelessly appear and then be miraculous adverted at the eleventh hour. The fact is that these are not separate issues but rather are symptoms of the same much larger problem. The government spends too much because it does too much. The government has grown to be involved in countless areas beyond its legitimate function. We need to fundamentally rethink the role of government.

However, the range of acceptable public discourse is confined to arguments about marginally raising taxes on particular groups or splitting hairs over benefits to other groups. Anyone who suggests meaningful reductions to the size and scope of government is deemed impractical. What is impractical is thinking we can continue down the current course that Republican and Democrat leadership insist on traveling. There is simply not enough wealth on planet Earth to pay for the obligations and promises that Uncle Sam has made.

Last week Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader (D-CA), publicly spoke out against the prospect of forced cuts to congressional pay because it would undermine the dignity of her job. In my next post I will share some thoughts I have about “dignity” and what it entails regarding Ms. Pelosi.

In Liberty,

Jason Riddle

Long before the days of the gas turbine and the steam engine, vessels sailing the high seas relied almost entirely on the motive power of the wind. However, even during periods of total calm, a ship and its crew were far from helpless. In the absence of wind, the crew used their own muscle to manually thrust their oars into the water and propel the ship forward. Because the oars of this era were made primarily of white ash, the term "sailing by the ash breeze" was born. This expression is often used to describe people who blaze their own trails and make something for themselves of their own initiative. It has come to represent strength, determination, and independence. 

For example, Nat Bowditch, the primary character in Jean Lee Latham’s 1955 Newbery Medal winning novel1 about a young man’s quest for learning, famously exclaims, “Only a weakling gives up when he's becalmed! A strong man sails by ash breeze!” While Mr. Bowditch’s words are meant to inspire the best from within, even the strongest among us can still feel anxious and helpless when the winds cease to blow. 

What then can we average landlubbers learn from this old nautical expression, “sailing by the ash breeze”?

First, if ever we find ourselves stranded in becalmed waters, we might do well to pause and take inventory of our situation. Experienced navigators recognize the importance of being aware of their surroundings and assessing how the external conditions of their environment might impact their goals. All too often in life’s journey we become accustomed to traveling by whatever fills our sails. We should first attempt to understand what it is that we are counting on to move us forward.

Are we sitting idle, waiting for some external force to move us along? Are we waiting for our politicians, our boss, or maybe even our spouse to fill our sails with that motive power? While we are often fortunate to sail effortlessly along with the help of a strong breeze, the winds of fortune are not always there to move us in our preferred direction. Sometimes we have no other option than to move ourselves in the direction we want to travel. Instead of waiting for some external source of energy over which we have no control, why not look to our own internal strength?

The early travelers also knew the importance of finding the right balance between relying on external sources of energy for locomotion and creating their own opportunities. Fortunately, we know that the wind doesn’t stop blowing forever, but there are just some days when the wind refuses to cooperate. Often, we can afford to wait for the next breeze, but other times it is urgent to pick up the oars and start rowing right away. When the sails hung limp as the enemy was approaching, the sailors would not stand idle cursing the misfortune of poor external circumstance. They took action. There are simply times when we have to roll up our sleeves and put oar to water.

One final lesson we can garner from the early-day travelers who sailed by the ash breeze is that no single person has the strength to move the ship forward alone. It is when our individual effort is combined with that of others sharing the same goal that we are able to achieve amazing results. Moreover, we should also remember that during those times when it may seem that we are but a single vessel stranded in becalmed waters, our families, friends, communities, churches, and other organizations are there rowing alongside us; even when our individual strength falters. We are not sailing life’s journey alone.

Although we do not have a choice about the wind’s direction, we can control how we react. Instead of worrying about the things you can’t control, try focusing on the things you can. And, if you ever find yourself in becalmed waters, may you find the strength to sail by the ash breeze until the wind fills your sails again.

In Liberty,

Jason Riddle

This article originally appeared in the 2012 Winter Issue of Peachtree Papers.

What’s New on FreedomUnfiltered.com?

Have you had a chance to explore the Liberty Library?  You can search the library or browse by key topic for a links to some of the best educational resources around. Over the last several months we have built out the Liberty Library with hundreds of hand-selected articles and videos on the topics of individual liberty and sound economics. Please take a few minutes to visit the new Liberty Library and share this resource with your friends. 

The new Liberty in Atlanta Calendar is your window into liberty-oriented events and meetups around the city. Contact us to have your event included on the calendar. 

In December, Jason was interviewed on the Gadsen Rising radio program about the Federal Reserve, the global monetary system, free market solutions, and the history of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Listen to the audio here.

In January, Jason was featured on AFF’s Free the Future: Profile in Liberty.


What is Next?

We are in the process of developing the Liberty Guide, a collection of ten basic lessons we think are essential to understanding the foundations of a free society. Here is a preview of Lesson 1 – The Market.  This will become a valuable tool to share with friends and family new to the ideas of liberty.

In Liberty,

Jason Riddle