“I once had someone say to me that ‘big government is bad.’ But that’s not necessarily true. Sometimes small government works well, and sometimes big government works well.”
A friend made this comment to me a few years ago. This was in my pre-COS days and before I had been challenged to develop and articulate my political philosophy. So even though I was pretty sure I disagreed with him—I’ve always been a fan of small government—I was at a loss to respond.
Today I would be more confident in making a reply. Here are five reasons why big government is problematic.
Big government is distant from the people. By its very nature it can only create one-size-fits-all solutions that are poorly designed to address local situations. And because each office holder represents a large number of citizens, the individual’s voice is reduced and easily ignored.
Big government requires high taxes. Taxation takes from the citizens the fruit of their labor, so the higher the taxation, the more oppressive the government.
Big government is unproductive. It consumes enormous resources but, unlike a business, doesn’t actually produce real wealth.
Big government becomes an end to itself. Because government has the power to tax “at the point of the sword,” it is capable of continually expanding itself well beyond its level of effectiveness.
Big government tends toward corruption. In fact, I would suggest that it is inevitably corrupt. As Lord Action famously said, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Putting a vast amount power into the hands of a small group of people is a recipe for corruption.
Dennis Prager puts it succinctly: “The bigger the government, the smaller the individual.” The founding fathers agreed, and that’s why they created a federal system designed to keep the vast majority of the power in the states, closer to the people.
Convention of States is all about We the People reining in the size of our overblown federal monstrosity and returning our government to the vision of the American founding. But the federal fat cats who benefit from the overreach will be fighting us tooth and nail. Every concerned citizen needs to lend their aid.
Join us and take action.
