Big Government

by David M. Woods

The following is a fictitious, but predictable conversation:

Me: I have a problem.

Other guy: Well, I have a solution!

Me: You have a solution?

Other guy: You bet!

Me: But I haven’t even told you what the problem is yet.

Other guy: Doesn’t matter. I already have a solution for it.

Me: [sigh] Ok, smart guy, what is my solution?

Other guy: Why, it’s obvious – the solution to your problem is: Big Government!

On any day of the year, one can find editorials, blogs, opinion pieces, and conversations anywhere and discover that the attitude exhibited by the other guy above is very prolific. There is this unwritten assumption that, given any problem or bad news of any kind, that government politicians and bureaucrats know what’s best for all of us; that anyone who works for the government is, by definition, smarter, wiser, and has more honesty and integrity. And so, every time something bad happens, they all respond with that all-too-predictable knee-jerk response that, by golly, the government needs to DO SOMETHING about it! And inevitably, the government DOES indeed do something: it gets bigger and more powerful, and spends more money.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the silliness of that mindset, and to try to get people to think twice before responding with the automatic knee-jerk reaction described above – in short, to try and think “out of the box” of trying to fix every conceivable problem known to man with that same old worn-out response: that the solution is more laws, more regulation, more spending, more bureaucracy, more governmental power and control over our lives and private affairs, less freedom, and yet another “War On [fill in the blank].”

The knee-jerkers in our society come from all walks of life. White, black, rich, poor, conservative, liberal, it doesn’t matter. They see a need, and they assume bigger government will fill it. Never mind that on any day of the year, boundless examples of governmental waste, fraud, abuse, and just plain stupidity can be found everywhere.

Here’s some classic examples: The government subsidizes tobacco companies, yet requires warning labels on cigarette packages. Another: the government must invade Iraq because they masterminded the 9/11 attacks and had enough WMDs to defeat the USA. Another: the federal government’s inability to balance its budget now adds to over a $trillion. Each year. I could go on.

The truth is that government is not the source of all prosperity, the answer to all questions, the solver of all problems, the boundless fount of wisdom and honesty. Government employees are not gods! They are but imperfect humans subject to the same faults as the rest of us. A better description would be that they are a pack of blundering fools, hell-bent on accumulating power and control at our expense. The song-writer was talking about government in that famous line: “He can’t even run his own life, I’ll be damned if he’ll run mine!”

The Evidence

So how can one PROVE that big government does not work? The first evidence is the following observation: If big government is what you want, you got it! Look around you! The U.S. federal budget is way up in the multi-$trillions now. The federal registry contains so many laws and regulations that it takes an entire building to house all the hard paper copies. If you plotted government growth over the last 50 years on a graph, it would draw an upward-curving line that is now vertical.

And it’s not just the federal government. Out-of-control government growth is happening everywhere – it’s happening in all 50 states, in every county, every city. And it’s not just the U.S. either – it’s a global phenomena.

So clearly: if you are an advocate for Big Government, you won. Hands down, with flying colors. Those of us who tried to resist it never had a chance. You left us in your dust.

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