The Best of Life

I write this on Election Day.

People are freaking out.

"A Second Trump Administration Would Be a Carnival of Corruption and Greed," is a New York Times headline.

"President Kamala Would Be a Disaster for the World," says The Telegraph.

Wait. Take a breath.

Yes, Donald Trump is an awful man who only cares about himself. He's scary reckless.

But his first term wasn't terrible. He did some good things. He resisted insane regulation. He didn't start any new wars.

Still, he grew government and grew our debt by almost 40%.

Now he promises even higher tariffs. They may deter foreign bad behavior, but they also raise prices and will lead to American executives spending even more time sucking up to politicians instead of innovating. Lobbying is easier.

And last time I listened to him, Trump seemed unhinged. I worry about what he might do.

But a Harris administration will definitely do bad things -- impose endless stricter rules, energy mandates, a million regulations that tell creators: Don't innovate. Don't try anything new!

Her army of eager progressives will push to make Americans even more dependent on handouts, ban speech they don't like and punish capitalists. If she wins, welcome back, 8% inflation.

Both candidates lie and claim that life will be good only if we follow them. Both will do nothing while Social Security and Medicare run out of money.

Yikes.

But here's the good news: No matter who wins, neither politician will be able to do all the things they want to do.

The Founders smartly created checks that keep any one politician from doing too much damage.

Laws must pass two houses of Congress. Courts can cancel unconstitutional ones. Presidents may sign executive orders, but judges and lawmakers can stop them from taking effect.

Big change is hard.

No matter who wins, the world will still look a lot like it did yesterday.

We'll spend time with our families, go to work, go to school, and fall in and out of love. Restaurants will serve food, and stores will be stocked with our favorite things.

We don't need a president to put the countless products on our local grocery shelves. It's done by billions of people making free choices in response to market signals.

This "spontaneous order" keeps things going regardless of who is in the White House.

Politicians create plans, write rules and "solve" problems. But most of the best of life isn't the result of their plans.

Look at what happened during the pandemic.

Government tried to control the disease -- lockdowns, six-feet apart orders, mask mandates, etc.

But in the middle of all that, something interesting happened.

Communities, families, businesses and charities stepped up -- helped each other. Restaurants donated meals to health care workers. Stores delivered essentials to the elderly. People organized food banks and supply drives. Without government.

No matter who wins this election, we don't need to wait for government permission to solve our problems.

Left to our own devices, we adapt and innovate. Without direction from Washington.

A final, most important thing to consider if that horrible other candidate wins:

You and I are not normal. We spend time reading about politics.

Most Americans don't. As one told me, "We have lives!"

Most of what really makes life worth living -- family, friends, music, love, religion, recreation, hobbies, art, food, travel, health -- doesn't depend on who is in power.

Politics is loud and sometimes unavoidable. Yes, the American government has grown so much that it now sucks up nearly 40% of our money. Yes, it sometimes stops us from doing good things. Yes, its mandates are often stupid and counterproductive.

But government is just one piece of a much bigger picture.

The real magic of life happens where you live.

Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom. He is the author of "Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media."

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Views expressed in this column are those of the author, not those of Rasmussen Reports. Comments about this content should be directed to the author or syndicate