Go Tell It On The Mountain

                                                                         

With the passing of every moment our national debt increases,ⁱ and with it the need for cutting our expenses and increasing our revenue. I've already suggested that we outsource large parts of our government in the interests of saving money, but I noted that there were certain functions that we'd have to retain and execute ourselves. Certainly our military must remain local, and its control maintained in a secure facility. But that is only one among several such functions. For example, the Sixteenth Amendment has presented us all with the treasured gift of an income tax, and we surely wouldn't want anyone else laying hands on our money.ⁱⁱ

The Constitution that made us a nation designated three primary branches of government – the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial branches – and specified the responsibilities of each.ⁱⁱⁱ Our founding document was quite explicit about those responsibilities,^iv but was less concerned about the location of their performance. Indeed, the first Presidential inauguration was held in New York, our Supreme Court Justices used to “ride circuit,” and Congress, itself, has moved around since our Constitution was written in Philadelphia.

All the branches settled down, however, with the establishment of a national capital in the District of Columbia – Washington, D.C. And for more than two centuries that has been our center of government, where the offices of the President, Congress, and the Supreme Court are located. It's beautiful, dignified, centralized, symbolic, and very costly. But in addition it's a tempting target.^v

In the mid-1940s came the initial recommendations that the Air Defense Command (ADC) move its headquarters to a protected location. Although the ADC no longer exists, the move took place and currently a successor, NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command), has placed its Alternate^vi Control Center in the Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker. It's secure and compact, underground, and protected by a mountain. It's the site from which our response to attack would be coordinated.

Mountains have always held some kind of mystical and spiritual connection for Mankind, even before Thomas Mann wrote “The Magic Mountain.” Religions ancient and modern have pictured mountains as the source of inspiration. Ancient pagan rites were held on mountains, while ranking high in western literature and culture is Mount Olympus, the home of the Greek gods. And the source of most of western religion was Mount Sinai, where the Law was given to the Israelites when they left Egypt. Even now the mystique of the mountain persists in our fantasy movies.^vii

For this reason we should consider moving our government – the part remaining after we outsource most functions – to a secure location somewhere in or under a mountain in the west, possibly in the Cheyenne Mountain complex itself. Roads are already built there, as are support facilities. And we already own the property. A pared-down government could be located in a single location and we could sell all our property in Washington.^viii What is clear, though, is that the cost of property in the west will be far lower than the value of our holdings in the east, so this will be of great help in lowering our debt. The space should be more than adequate, although some construction will be necessary. Even so, however, the costs of construction and maintenance over time will be far less there than what we pay in a big city. Our government will be far safer, and able to meet doomsday in style.

The idea of underground security, whether under a mountain^ix or not, isn't new. We bury the dead and build underground bomb shelters for protection against enemy attacks. In fact that's the nature of the Cheyenne Mountain facility itself. Saddam Hussein hid underground, though his bunker didn't offer all the protection he would have liked. And the Iranians are building their nuclear facilities underground in hardened facilities capable of surviving attack. We're America though, we're the best, and we can make our sub-sierran government hard and fast. No one can threaten us or beat us. They can kill us all but our government will remain safe and able to retaliate against anyone.

Our defense is already largely underground, and whatever isn't can be added to aerospace complex, or others like it. The outsourcing of many governmental functions along with the centralization of the rest should lower costs significantly and be an important part of lowering our national debt. And who wouldn't love the idea of burying the IRS and the rest of our government?

Next episode: “Safety Net” – And other applications as well.

i      At this moment – 1 PM on February 1, 2013 – it's close to sixteen and a half trillion dollars. That's even bigger than the Power-Ball jackpot.

ii     That, of course, excludes our own politicians. They're certainly entitled to dip in whenever they're short.

iii   Those branches may not always follow the guidelines set by the Constitution (our officials certainly don't) but they're there, and our President and representatives have sworn to uphold them. We're smart enough not to believe the politicians.

iv     Even though the writing of the Constitution itself was illegal – those present had been authorized to make some changes in the Articles of Confederation – our Founding Fathers didn't hesitate to set rules for future officials to obey slavishly.

v      It was invaded during the War of 1812, and, more recently, the Pentagon was damaged by Al Qaeda in 2001, on September 11th. More damage was planned but, fortunately, not accomplished in that action. As missile attacks become more feasible, even for smaller powers, a protected inland location would provide greater safety for our leaders.

vi     The primary command center for the NORAD/USNORTHCOM command center is at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.

vii    You've seen them. Don't pretend you're above all that.

viii   I have a lot more to say on this, but it will be the subject of a future essay.

ix   According to the Jewish tradition, Mount Sinai was raised over the heads of the Israelites when they were being asked to accept the Law. In that case the security of the divine teachings was considered preferable to the security of the grave.