Occam’s Razor - The English philosopher, William of Occam (1300-1349) propounded Occam’s Razor:

"Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem."

(Latin for “Entities should not be multiplied more than necessary”). That is, the fewer assumptions an explanation of a phenomenon depends on, the better it is.

We should learn from the lessons that History has taught us. Even in the 1300's, a philosopher, William of Occam, knew how misleading it was to make concepts more complicated than necessary. His theory was that the information could be communicated and more easily understood when presented succinctly.  When laws are passed by governments they should also be clear, concise and easily understood. Numerous laws and regulations make compliance difficult, if not impossible. The Roman Lawyer Cicero, at the end of what passed for democracy just before Caesar, stated that too many laws, not easily understood, would confuse the citizenry. This confusion would make them become unenforceable. I wonder what he would have said about our current Internal Revenue Code. I think the Founder's realized that documents such as the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution had to be as succinct and easy to understand as possible. The oft repeated George Santayana's famous quote: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," is often quoted, but seemingly ignored. The philosophy of Occam's Razor is also sometimes talked about, but never seems to find followers on Capital Hill!

It is by no mistake that most great people since the beginning of recorded History were avid readers of all types of books. Up until the last fifty years or so, most knowledge was gained by independent study that required extensive reading. The vast majority of the population never had access to Institutions of Higher Learning until after World War II. Universities used to be where thought provoking study and acquisition of wisdom were the principal goals set for the students. The new emphasis is on degrees, or other government sponsored certifications. That is now more important than experience, and Degree Factories have become predominant. This has made careful, reflective and thorough study less important. Expertise is now reduced to objective requirements promulgated by bureaucrats, rather than by discussion, observation and other insightful study.

This is probably no truer than in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. In our era, complete, concise reports compiled from thorough research have been replaced by sound bites and other information pulled out of context. The new objective is to pull out information you need to support your positions and have the Mainstream Media bleat it over and over until it is accepted as the truth. That is why "Social Programs" are never put to the same challenge as National Security issues. Most of the ruling elite can spend billions of unaccounted for dollars in social programs that go virtually unobserved as to cost or effectiveness. At the same time they put national defense issues under a microscope and analyze expenditure in great detail. Once again, why hasn't there been a Congressional Investigation into the Trillion Dollars spent on Public Housing the last 50 to 60 years? Where did the money go?

The Federal Legislature has abdicated the real work of writing legislation and regulations to their staff. The Senators and Members of Congress have become specialists in public relations, always ready to spin the truth, or whatever they want to be considered the truth. Sadly, most of the staff comes by way of being children of wealth or privilege, young people who graduated from name schools, or connected to the power elitists in some fashion. There are few people on the staffs of Senators or Representatives that have had to struggle with finding the money to cover a payroll for people dependent on them. Most staff hasn't had to struggle to understand what it means to be the 95% of Americans that weren't raised in wealth and privilege. One classic story about President John F. Kennedy strikes me as representative of those who have power in this country. He once commented that he didn't even know there was a Depression in the 1930's until he got to Harvard. There, it was a Professor of History who told him about it, but he never experienced the Depression like millions of his fellow Americans. Later, maybe after his service in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he developed a connection with the average American. A great deal of this empathy was public relations, but at least I know he had some connection with those of us who do most of the work in this country, because he was the last Democrat to propose a Tax decrease in 1962.

I had a wonderful old friend who served in the Illinois Legislature in the Fifties and early Sixties who complained that most Illinois Legislators had forgotten how to write legislation, much less know what the staff put in their own bills by 1980. On a National Level I believe it is much worse. I believe that most laws and regulations passed since the Great Society haven't even been read by a majority of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, much less written by those elected legislators. A disconnect exists between the vast amount of words written to govern and the purpose for which they were written. Like the Internal Revenue Code, they are written that way to confuse the public to hide the real purpose and intent of those laws. For years we hear the drumbeat of needing all these laws to make the IRS code fair and tax the wealthy. As I write this, a $2.4 Trillion tax increase is proposed, with the intended result of Middle Class tax relief and soaking the rich. I have heard this since my first tax season in 1969 and I witnessed the wealthy taking advantage of loopholes most average Americans don't know exist. From that first season until now, thousands of words have been written, but the rich are richer at the expense of the Middle Class. Is that fair?

To be continued..