Atlas has Shrugged..... But it's not who you thought.

In a future episode of the “Art of Conservatism”, I will give you a recommended list of books that Conservatives need to read, in order to learn better what they need to know to make them able to stand up to the Statist onslaught. For now, though, I'd like to reference just one---the classic novel, Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. Yes, that's the correct spelling of her first name. And for those who don't know, Ayn is a 'her'. If you didn't know, you really need to read this book, and possibly her other novel, The Fountainhead.

Atlas Shrugged is not a light read. At about a thousand pages, it's a not a one-evening experience, either. But it has an incredible premise---what would happen to society if the producers, the ones who really make this or any country work, in spite of the increasing of government regulation and taxation—read that, “tyranny”---just simply decide to pack it in and stop producing---take their money and go home---or away, to a more tax-friendly environment? The more one thinks about the ramifications of that, the scarier the concept becomes. And make no mistake--this country is headed that way. Hell, it's already there! Don't disbelieve that.

But even Ms. Rand never envisioned the kind of Shrugging that is now being shrugged by a different Atlas in this country. Who would that be? Do you have to ask? No, you don't, because if you are observant, you are seeing it happening all around you. It's our police.

It is almost impossible to be a police officer these days. Paul Harvey, some 40 years ago, did a classic essay on “A Farmer Is....”, in which the message was, no matter what a farmer does, or whatever decision a farmer would make, he would be damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

It's nothing compared to what our cops are going through today. You have to see that. They're being second-guessed by those in power above them who are determined to build that ultimate utopia, the politically correct society. No matter what a police officer does in any situation, they find themselves constantly looking over their shoulder, to see if a lawsuit is going to be fired at them or the powers that be are going to terminate them and their pensions, or worse, send them to prison for the crimes of doing their jobs. Add to that the threat of the Federal takeover of their local police departments by a Federal Government which has God-knows-what motives for nationalizing them, and you have inevitable results—police officers becoming timid and not pro-active in fighting crime, leaving their jobs for other endeavors and, in the worst case, taking their lives. You the reader cannot help but see the results of all this: crime is on the increase, because the criminals know they have the upper hand. In their own enlightened self-interest, residents of the affected areas are taking to arming themselves, assuming that their local governments allow them to, or at most, they do it illegally. In the alternative, the people simply live in fear of losing their property, loved ones or, at the very worst, their own lives. This sort of atmosphere is not stable and not sustainable, and ultimately leads to chaos as the loss of the concept of law and order slowly disappears.

Do you really want to see this Atlas shrug?

There is a remedy. This problem usually starts at the top. Oh, yes, where the problem of over-control of the police is a reality, replacing the local leadership with those who will let the police just do their job of investigating and enforcing, without handcuffing them with a myriad of political correct and onerous regulations, is no doubt a good thing, I'm more interested in the problem all the way at the top. The attitude of the President of the United States, his attorney general, and the Federal Courts toward the police, which as we know has been nothing short of egregious in the last several years, has to change. I believe that, the more that police are supported in the legitimate carrying execution of their duties to investigate and fight crime, the more the police will be moved to do it for the protection of the people they serve, rather than to tyrannize them. That's because I believe that law enforcement has learned its lesson about abiding by the Constitution and serving those who would otherwise be crying for them to serve them, and get rid of the criminal element among them. The word is, “Behave or Be Damned.” That applies to all of us, and especially to police. But let's let them do their job first. Don't let them shrug. Not them. Remember, it is either them, or chaos.

For Art of Conservatism, I'm Art Reis