Do You Want Bigger Government?
Alexander S. Peak
18 July 2005It would seem logical that the last thing we would want is a big,
Orwellian
government, as depicted in the novel
1984. After all, the book is based on a fictional,
then-futuristic
Stalinist
regime, complete with
sprawling bureaucracies,
government-mandated propaganda, and all the other
lovely things we come to expect of
totalitarian
cesspools. The government, in its strive to
end poverty, ended up subjecting the entire populace to it. It waged
war after
war
to inspire strident
Nationalism amongst the masses. London was constantly being
bombed
as a result. Simultaneously, individualism was
suppressed. The government maintained for itself the
ability to take whatever it wanted from the people, and it afforded
to its citizens none of the
tools
necessary for protection. Simply put, it was a
police state.
The vast majority of Americans will agree that 1984 wasn’t a
blue-print for utopia, and that in fact such a liberticidal system
of governance is the opposite of
what we
should strive for. Further, most Americans want smaller government.
Yet, it seems that regardless of who is in power, whether it be the
Democrats or the Republicans, the
size,
cost, and
scope of power of government keeps
growing and
growing. Take the most recent Federal budget, for example. (Please,
take it!) Despite the claims on both sides of the isle that cutbacks
were being made, the budget still seemed to increase from the previous
year. And not just by a percent or two, but by a
whopping 7%. That’s 41% higher than the last budget passed under the
Clinton administration. (Most of these expenditures are
unconstitutional, anyway.) It seems that no matter who mans this
ship named S.S. Leviathan, government gets bigger, and bigger,
and bigger.
Of course, the politician ruling class has its excuses. They claim,
for example, that the citizens would be upset if they lost all the
wonderful
government
programs
the politicians provide. But is this really true? Are Americans
so apathetic about their freedoms that they’re willing to sacrifice them
for inefficient (and usually ineffective or destructive) government
programs? Or, rather, do they see this approach as a net loss?
In truth, the majority of Americans do see this as a net loss.
The following list of statistics may be of interest to you. (My
thanks to Mr. Harry Browne for
assembling these statistics.)
55% favor smaller government with fewer services, as opposed
to a larger government with many services.
50% favor smaller government with fewer services.
64% prefer smaller government with fewer services and lower
taxes.
Rasmussen poll, February 16, 2004
31% have a great deal of confidence in the Presidency. 29%
have a great deal of confidence in the Supreme Court. 13%
have a great deal of confidence in Congress.
65% believe that government is the biggest threat to the
country in the future (compared with 22% who think big business is
the biggest threat and 7% who named big labor).
27% trust the government to do what’s right most of the time.
73% believe “the federal government is much too large and has
too much power.”
Luntz Research Companies, November 9, 1994
67% believe “big government is the biggest threat to the
country in the future.”
The Roper Center for Reader’s Digest in 1994
63% think “government regulation of business usually does
more harm than good.”
The Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press, July 27,
1994
Only 22% “trust the government in Washington to do what is
right most of the time.”
CBS News and The New York Times, November 1, 1994
60% want a strong third party to provide a true alternative
to what they’re getting now.
The Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press, June 24,
1993
|
Alex Peak served as the
President
of the College Libertarians of Towson, 2004-2006; Membership Chair, 2006-2007;
and Vice President, 2007-Present.
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