There’s a great proverb that goes like this. “Do not curse God for having created tigers. Thank God for having not given them wings.” It’s a venerable saying that illustrates a good guiding principle. Our mental health and coping skills depend on our ability to put unpleasantness in perspective. But I’d like to approach this bit of Oriental wisdom from another angle. Let me set the stage.

This week marks a number of ominous anniversaries. Feb. 15, 399 B.C., Socrates sentenced to death in Athens for voicing allegedly dangerous opinions; Feb. 16, 1568, the entire population of the Netherlands receives a death sentence for allegedly holding heretical religious views; 1959, Fidel Castro confirmed as dictator of Cuba; Feb. 17, 1600, Giordono Bruno burned at the stake for religious heresy; 1977, Bishop Luwum of Uganda murdered, probably on orders of the tyrant Idi Amin; Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt authorizes internment of many innocent American citizens of Japanese descent.

There’s a common denominator here. Each of these atrocities occurred because there weren’t adequate restraints on government power. Let’s take a closer look.

Governments, by their nature, are tigers with wings. No matter how benign they are when they’re cubs, they grow up with ravenous appetites and a hatred of restraints. Governments never tire of squeezing more and more resources from the pockets of their subjects. They never stop looking for ways to silence voices of dissent. They are more than willing to engage in intimidation and even murder when their sense of self-preservation is threatened. Governments never sleep. They never take a day off. They are ever on the prowl in search of enemies and potential enemies.

If history has taught us anything, it’s that government, no matter how benevolent at the outset, is always probing to discover weaknesses in restraints on its power. No matter what the party line may be, government by its nature is a winged tiger. It is not a friend of mankind.

Our founding fathers were acutely aware of government’s unquenchable appetite. That’s why the founders, by drafting, debating and ratifying our constitution, amputated the tiger’s wings. Our Bill of Rights, our constitutional safeguards, our branches of government with the fine system of checks and balances — all this was crafted because tigers are a necessary fact of our social contract. But our founders instituted brilliant measures to keep it under control.

But here’s the problem with wingless tigers. They’re relentless in their efforts to get those wings back. They grow a feather here and there and wait to see if anyone sounds the alarm. If small growth in the danger is overlooked, more feathers appear. If some of this new growth is observed and trimmed, the tiger waits patiently and tries again. The tiger is quite willing to wait until the astute watchdog dies or retires. Then it resumes its efforts to regrow those wings that will allow it to return to its old, dangerous, free-ranging tricks.

Ordinarily, I steer clear of politics. There are plenty of pundits who know and say more about it than I do. I figure you’re getting your quota. But I’m seeing warning signs. The measures so skillfully devised by our founders to ensure that American citizens keep this dangerous tiger under control are unraveling.

Now some will insist that there’s nothing to worry about. The government is under control and working fine. But let’s face an important fact. There’s not a word about Republicans or Democrats in the Constitution. But the real rulers of this country are the political parties. And we are seeing them for the snarling, spitting, savage, cannibalistic fat cats they are.

At this moment in our country, our government is dysfunctional. It’s dysfunctional because we’re not, as a nation of free citizens, demanding accountability. Our institutions are bordering on moral collapse. Our resources are being wasted. Our children’s future is being hocked. The shears are in our hands. If we don’t get our tiger under control, we have no one to blame if it suddenly sprouts wings and devours us all.

To those of you who think the situation will simply right itself, here’s an ancient Arab saying. “It is good to trust God, but never forget to tie up your camel.” We have tigers and camels to tie up.

I’m Hink and I’ll see ya.