I am betting that anyone reading this blog posting will recognize the expression that has prompted my title: "Who Pays The Piper Calls The Tune." That is the complete expression, and that statement, more than anything else, is an observation that is asking us to recognize the realities of the world in which we all live.
My own way of saying the same thing is to remind us of what I sometimes call the "Golden Rule of Politics." That is, in short: "Whoever has the most gold makes the rules!" If you click the link I just provided, you will find I have been advertising a possible alternative to letting that "Golden Rule" play out. My alternative relies on the following expression, which is also well known: "Time Is Money." "Time," in other words (if we put together enough of it), can beat "money," so if we want to be in a position to "run the place," instead of letting those who have the most "gold" take total charge, we need to put in our time, so we will be able to call the tune, ourselves.
An article in The Wall Street Journal, by James Hankins, brought the "Who Pays The Piper?" claim to mind. Hankins is a self-identified "Conservative Harvard Professor," and he cites to the "Who Pays The Piper?" expression in an article titled, "How The University Can Save Itself."
Harvard has, of course, as I trust we all remember, been told by our current president that Harvard needs to let the federal government take over a commanding role in deciding how Harvard University should be operated. If Harvard doesn't want to cede such authority to our current president, then the federal government will simply stop funding the university.
In essence, Hankins pretty much thinks that the federal government's demands on Harvard (and on other universities, presumably) are absolutely appropriate, given the truth of that "Who Pays The Piper?" formulation. Hankins' prescription, and his plan on how Harvard can "save itself," is for Harvard to "reduce its dependence on the federal government."
The main problem with the Hankins' analysis, as I see it, is that the government is already "calling the tune" with respect to the payments that Harvard (and other universities) are receiving from the federal government. Most of the federal payments are to pay for specific work that the universities are doing for the government. We, the American people, are supposed to be benefitting from the work that Harvard (and other universities) are doing. A lot of that work relates to health care, and to the kind of basic scientific research that will power new enterprises. The specific work that the universities are doing, in other words, in repayment for the monies being provided by the government, is work that the government has specifically contracted with the universities to do. The government is already "calling the tune." Trump just wants to change the tune, by way of his unilateral decision.
As I have pointed out before (and more than once), what our current president gets "wrong" is the idea that his personal preferences should be reflected in every activity of the federal government. That's not true. It's "our" government, not the president's government, and the president is supposed to be "executing" the programs that have been approved by the Congress, which represents us all.
It is pretty much beyond dispute that our current president has succumbed to a "royal temptation" that suggests that he, personally, embodies the nation (as a king embodies the entirety of the state, in those nations ruled by hereditary monarchs).
That is not the system that we signed up for, back in 1776, so here's a thought. Think about it! What if we turn that "Who Pays The Piper?" observation around. Who is paying the president? WE are, and he is supposed to do what WE want. Not the opposite!
Foundation of Freedom
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