We call them checks and balances, but they\u2019re not two separate things. Checks and balances are really checks in balance. Checks are constraints that prevent runaway effects like the rich getting richer, the crazy getting crazier, the wild getting wilder. Balanced checks prevent runaway effects in every direction.<\/p>\n
We call it the \u201crule of law,\u201d but authoritarian states that have fallen into runaway effects have the rule of law too. Hitler and Stalin had the rule of law. The rich and powerful who ruled made the laws until the checks in balance got way out of whack.<\/p>\n
We call it liberalism, but that doesn\u2019t quite get it either. It\u2019s not just about loosening things. It\u2019s about loosening and tightening things such that things stay in balance. It\u2019s like auto mechanics: tighten here, loosen there, so bolts don\u2019t fly, the engine doesn\u2019t seize up, and the car doesn’t collapse.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s like life itself. Your life with other people, but also your biological life. You are your checks in balance. As we age, things get out of balance. Dying results from checks out of balance, a cascade of runaway effects, one out-of-whack consequence leading to another out-of-whack consequence until the whole house of cards falls apart, no more checks in balance.<\/p>\n
When we\u2019re playing a game, we want to win. A good game starts out with checks in balance, but just barely. An exciting game has alternating dominance, one team ahead, then the other, until one prevails and you hope it\u2019s yours. Same with wars, which we hope end with our side\u2019s victory.<\/p>\n
But what if you wanted to keep a game going? You don\u2019t want it to end. You want your life and good government to keep going. How do you pull that off? With checks in balance.<\/p>\n