Robber baron was a term used in the 19th century for men who dominated their respective industries and amassed huge personal fortunes, typically using anti-competitive or unfair business ethics in the process. The term may now be used in relation to any businessman or banker who is perceived to have used questionable business practices or scams in order to become powerful or wealthy. Per Wikopedia, "The term derives from the medieval German lords who illegally charged exorbitant tolls against ships traversing the Rhine river."  It was popularized by U.S. political and economic commentator Matthew Josephson in a 1934 book. He attributed its first use to an 1880 anti-monopoly pamphlet in which Kansas farmers applied the term to railroad magnates.

The rise of the Progressive Movement and the reforms they advocated when they gained power in government, were supposed to offset the unfair advantages attained by the Robber Barons who had concentrated great wealth and power into their own hands. From the late 1800's through the New Deal reforms of the 1930's, government was supposed to be the guarantor of equal economic and political freedom for all Americans. It was also supposed to be the answer to limiting the concentration of wealth and priviledge in the United States. The Income Tax was intended to help accomplish this goal. Up until World War Two, Government Service provided comfortable jobs, good pensions and benefits, but wasn' considered a path to fame and fortune. The Great Society changed all that.

The spirit of service and personal sacrifice has mostly been lost working for government today. A trend, I also believe began with the Great Society programs that made the Public Treasury so vulnerable to plunder. Most of our Founders sacrificed their fortunes, futures and in some cases their lives, for "Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness." As an avid reader, particularly of US History and Biographies of Americans great and small, I am constantly amazed at the sacrifices made not only by the veterans of military conflicts, but by normal middle class Americans. They understood JFK's words to do something for America long before his speechwriter wrote them for him. Tom Brokaw's "Greatest Generation," to which my parents belonged, gave of themselves, mostly without complaint. We can contrast that with the constant demands and whining about how government doesn't do enough by many contemporary Americans.  

People elected or appointed to high government positions don't seem as concerned about the Welfare of "The People" as they are with power. Often they are employed in revolving positions of public service and lobbying or other private sector jobs using their government gained influence. What a difference between the early Presidents and other Founders, who brought wealth to their public service and then sacrificed it to the demands of their Country. Of the first 6 Presidents of the United States, only George Washington died retaining any of his wealth sacrificed to public service. It was restored with vigorous effort after he left office. Thomas Jefferson's heirs were forced to sell of everything to pay his debts and it took generations before a dedicated admirer of the Third President restored Monticello to the public domain. Today, elected officials or their staffs, always expanding in size and power, amass huge fortunes by using their influence. These fortunes are in addition to government pensions and other benefits a working American can't imagine.

Congress is not satisfied with just raiding the U.S. Treasury, either by steering earmarks to special interest contributors or putting paragraphs in a complex labyrinth of tax to allow the super rich to avoid taxes. The latter is done with the hypocrisy of preaching redistribution of wealth. More on that in another blog but suffice to say Congress has in fact redistributed the wealth to their powerful special interest supporters from the middle class Americans. They help their rich and powerful contributors avoid taxes while publicly complaining that taxes have to be increased on the rich to fund their bloated social programs. Most programs also seem to benefit the same self interest groups.

John Fund wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal on July 19 titled, "Congress' Edifice Complex." He sites examples of the Congressional propensity to immortalize their names on highways, buildings and other government pork projects. It's bad enough that they misuse our money in ever increasing amounts but they have to name monuments to their egos after themselves to remind us of how foolish we are to keep re-electing them! Quoting Mr. Fund in that same article: "It was the constant naming of projects like that that stirred Arkansas state Rep. Dan Greenberg to action. Last year, he introduced the "Edifice Complex Prevention Bill" to put limits on the practice in the state. 'I discovered a local park had been named after me and other legislators without my knowledge,' he told me. 'But that wasn't enough for one legislator who complained that the sign with her name on it wasn't in her campaign colors."

In the late 1800's, Americans looked to their Government to guarantee economic and political freedom; who do we turn to today? Government has in many cases partnered up with those whose accumulated wealth today make the Original American Robber Barons look like paupers. Another quote from a recent Wall Street Journal article has scared me even more. "In 2005, billionaire investor George Soros convened a group of 70 super-rich liberal donors in Phoenix to evaluate why their efforts to defeat President Bush had failed. One conclusion was that they needed to step up their long-term efforts to dominate key battleground states. The donors formed a group called Democracy Alliance to make grants in four areas: media, ideas, leadership and civic engagement. Since then, Democracy Alliance partners have donated over $100 million to key progressive organizations." I am afraid that their definition of progressive organizations, such as "Move On.org," are those that want to limit free speech by dictating what media outlets candidates appear, or encourage their endorsed candidates to support more government controls.

In general, it seems the new Robber Barons have no use for what the Founders gave us, only how they can control the Middle Class while exempting the ruling elite. The U.S. Constitution is considered by them a "Work in Process" to be manipulated to their advantage. We were taught in schools 50 years ago that the U.S. Constitution, The Declaration of Independence and other documents promulgated by the Founders were sacred works. We were taught generations of Americans, born here or arrived as immigrants, defended the concepts in those documents, sometimes at great cost. I believe more than ever that "We the People" need a Twenty-first Century Bill of Rights to maintain our freedoms.