15. Hope and Opportunity
Our culture was built on laws and their equal enforcement for all citizens. Laws, when enforced equally, are the bedrock that defines fairness in our culture. Like almost everything in life, too much of anything is not good, including an excess of laws. Too many laws, ordinances, sanctions, and rules diminish the clarity between right and wrong. Even more importantly, it reduces our ability to enforce laws equally. Unequal enforcement violates the most basic right that governance by law is dependent on — striving toward equality under the law.
The Constitution left criminal enforcement to local jurisdictions and the states. When Congress enacted the Crime Act in 1790, it stipulated only 17 Federal Crimes. That changed dramatically during the late 19th century when the federalization of local law began in earnest (Hastings Law Journal, Vol. 46, Issue 4). For example, in 2016, federal agencies issued 3,853 rules, while Congress passed and the president signed 214 bills into law (Forbes, Aug. 15, 2017). All in just one year! More than 30,000 statutes resulting in laws have been enacted since 1789 (Legi Scan). Studies estimate there are as many as 300,000 regulations that can subject people to criminal penalties (Council of Criminal Justice, ’22 update).
“Today, the vast majority of the crimes or regulatory offenses involve conduct that is not inherently wrong but has been made criminal only because an elite legislature or unelected bureaucracy has made it so. Our criminal law has become unmoored from its historic foundation. Without limits protecting citizens from haphazard application, law becomes a tool of oppression rather than protection” (The Honorable Edwin Meese III).
There is no doubt that, although well-intended, the laws, ordinances, and most of all the regulations are inhibiting opportunities for Americans. To mitigate the repression of opportunities by excessive laws and regulations, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OHIRA) in Washington DC must be spun out of the Office of Budget and Management within the executive branch of government and made autonomous. Giving OHIRA the power to sunset any regulation or law when it determines the costs of lost opportunities are greater than the benefits.
Hope can be environmentally influenced. Orphans raised in foster care have low alpha and beta brainwave power and higher theta brainwave power. What does that mean? Generally, in orphanages, there is a high child to caregiver ratio. Deprivation of attention continues to negatively affect brain development into adolescence (study Margaret Sheridan, Chapel Hill, ’22). “Opportunities a child has in early life will impact not just their behavior but their actual brain development and brain structure for years to come.” (Ann Casey, ’23) “Children in single-parent families are more likely to have disrupted brain development and shorter educational trajectories.” Foster care (over 390,000 children) and single-parent families (25 million children) destroy hope. America must force dads to be responsible for the child they created throughout adolescence.
A recent WSJ article titled “American Dream (Elusive). . .” says that only 36% of voters, down from 53% in 2012, still believe in the American Dream. I hope that by briefly discussing Hope and Opportunity, the two pillars of the American Dream, we can begin to understand why it is becoming elusive today. Only by understanding the causes can we reach a solution.
Have a blessed week!
Tony Christ 12/5/23