Checks and
Balances
“Ambition
must be made to counteract ambition.”
James
Madison (Federalist Papers, Nos. 10 & 51)
I woke this morning with
the notion of checks and balances on my mind. Many of us are holding
our breath until the midterm elections are over. This has been the
ugliest year in America that I can ever remember. It's as though we
are at war with ourselves. And we know where that leads from harsh
experience. Time to bring some balance.
The whole concept of
checks and balances did not originate with the constitution of the
United States—it's a natural phenomenon. In our bodies, we have a
regulatory system in the form of glands which control the flow of
hormones. From the pituitary, thalamus and hypothalamus in our
brains, to the adrenals, thyroid, ovaries and testes, the glands
regulate and balance our bodies. If we did not have them, or if they
produce too much or too little hormone, our bodies become sick. If
our pancreas fails to produce enough insulin, we develop diabetes. An
under-active or over-active thyroid creates dysfunction in our bodies
and affects our behavior. If we secrete too much stomach acid, we
experience heartburn and acid reflux, even ulcers. We need this
system of checks and balances to keep our bodies functioning
smoothly.
Our environments, too,
are equipped with checks and balances that if disturbed will render
them useless, and sometimes, ruthless. When we lose all our
honeybees, our crops are not pollinated. When we poison our
waterways, our food supply is diminished and rendered inedible. If all our amphibians die out, we will be overrun by insects. But
with healthy environments, all living things flourish. Balance in the
environment, as in our bodies, and in our government, requires the
sacrifice of one thing for another. We can't eat large slabs of
chocolate cake everyday and not expect a less than optimal outcome.
We cannot burn fossil fuels non-stop and expect that not to affect the
air we breathe. And we cannot run roughshod over vulnerable people
and call ourselves “the light of the world.”
Checks and balances are
necessary as well to keep the lesser human emotions from being
expressed. We often hear, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
This is true. There is something in our nature that cannot handle
absolute power—we become dogmatic and heavy-handed. We dismiss the
needs of the poor and disenfranchised and feel righteous doing it. We
somehow manage to delude ourselves that what we are doing is in the
best interest of the people, no matter how it actually affects people
who have no voice. And, even in a democracy, there are those who have
no voice—the poor and the poorly educated, the physically disabled and
cognitively challenged, the old and infirm, and the natural world.
When we decide that it's okay to neglect, or even abuse these
vulnerable populations, we will have descended to the depths of human
decency.
One good thing about
hitting bottom is that there is nowhere to go but up. We must
reinstate and respect our systems of checks and balances, even if it means that we have to give something up. That slab of chocolate
cake, for instance, and the way of life that says, “Me First, and
the rest of life only if it serves Me.” We can do this. All it
takes it the will to live. And, of course, the will to love.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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