Some Thoughts on the Nature of Government

Or, why we should want always less of it, never more.

from JoeUser Forums
Government being what it is, it will screw things up. It concentrates power, and wherever power is concentrated, there you will find greed, ego, corruption, and waste.

Therefore, Government being what it is, the more it gets involved, the more it will screw things up.

On the other hand, individuals being what they are, the less Government gets involved, the more individuals will screw things up.

So that's a bitch of a tradeoff, really. Or is it? The bottom line appears to be, there will be screwups no matter what.

So really, my choice is, do I pay taxes to a Government that is bound to spend my tax dollars poorly, or do I keep that money to spend wisely or poorly as I see fit? Do I dream of a government that regulates my life in impractical and sometimes wrongful ways, or do I dream of a Government that butts out, and lets me screw up my own life according to my own needs and desires?

In reality, of course, I dream of some balance of the two extremes. But I'm biased in favor of Less Government.

This probably my main problem with Bush. He's kind of an asshat when it comes to the core conservative principle of Small Government. If that were the only issue facing me today, I'd be pretty upset with the President we've got right now. However, since there are Ten Thousand Other Things that also demand my attention and concern, and since Government will never be Small enough to satisfy me, I'm willing to put that particular issue on the back burner. It's not going away, and I figure things like the "War on Terror" are more important right now.

Besides, even if there was no war on, it's not like the Democrats are going to give me a smaller Government than Bush has. As bad as Bush is about Government Bloat, the Democrats make it a campaign promise to be even worse. I'd rather have a solid wartime president who doesn't quite "get it" about Small Government, than a pacifist asshat president who flat-out promises me Big Government.

For all you liberals out there, please note the other side of the Big Government coin: Whenever you support a new Government program, you're giving the opposition faction even more authority over your life, the next time they're in power. And given the rantings over at Democratic Underground on any day ending in "Y", it looks like you can't even trust most of your own party to not abuse the authority you apparently are so desperate to give them.
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Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
I think you're assuming a bit too much when you say if people had more power (more say) they would screw it up as a matter of course. One always budgets their own money carefully. Faceless government corporations don't need to. There's the rub. They can spend however they want to, even as far as paying strip club bar tabs with taxpayer dollars. Give the individual a bit of credit.
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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
I give the individual a lot of credit, which is one reason why I'm in favor of more personal power, and less government power.

Another reason is because an individual has only a limited ability to screw things up for himself or others. But a Government, vested with the collective authority of millions of individuals has the power to screw things up on an epic scale. I'm sure we can all think of examples of this.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
Gid, I did actually consider libertarianism. In the end, though I had to conclude it wasn't for me.

The basis for my conclusion is too big to fit here, though I'll happily make it an article if you're interested in discussing it and need a place to hang your comments

In short, I think that libertarianism is too extreme in its idealism, and that the two-party system that forces extremist factions to moderate their views and compromise with the more centrist factions is a very good system. So I'm a Republican instead. The libertarians have some good ideas and a healthy dose of passion, and I welcome their contributions to the conservative cause. But I don't really see them as having a viable plan for national governance.