EDITOR’S VIEWPOINT/Government as enemy

More evidence that the world has turned on its axis can be found in Americans’ continued love/hate relationship with their public institutions, including all levels of government. Once defended vigorously by conservatives, these pillars of society were under attack four decades ago by the liberal children of the ‘60s. Today, those roles have reversed.

This generation of conservatives are leading the charge against government and dragging along the judiciary as the backup whipping boy. And, what liberal in the ‘60s would believe they eventually would be championing the importance of those institutions in our lives?

Some have suggested that the adults of 40 years ago grew up believing that government, the courts and higher education were positive influences on society, and that their children’s protests were formulated in a drug-soaked haze. A better explanation of the generation gap, though, is that both the protesters and their parents were rejecting each other’s view of the world.

The early ‘60s economy was healthy, and many of the adults were well on their way to creating a world of luxury for themselves and their children. Aware of the prosperity they were enjoying, those children of privilege — and those who were not — began to see the inequities for blacks, women and the poor. Even as those ideas began to influence their actions, America’s youth, once the object of their parents’ hopes and dreams, became a commodity shipped overseas to fight in a war of no strategic importance. Feeling betrayed and disenfranchised, that generation of children began to view public institutions, such as government, as part of the problem. Their parents, too, felt betrayed by a generation many still perceive as being selfish and spoiled.

Ironically, when the protesting children of the ‘60s realized that government was the very place to redress social issues, their view of those institutions changed. Certainly following the Civil Rights Act of 1964, they became believers in the redemptive power of the legislatures and courts.

At the same time, conservatives rekindled their belief in free enterprise and the destructive power of big government. Their criticisms of government are expressed in a number of ways, including the perpetuation of the idea that government has caused our societal problems through legislation backed up by the court system. It’s no wonder that the number of judges who have been threatened or harmed has increased recently.

The idea that government is our enemy serves no one well and is a dangerous notion to encourage. Liberals learned their lesson in the ‘60s, and it’s time for conservatives to do the same.