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We've been hearing it from every politician since Ronald Reagan.
Government is too big and too inept. It has led this country into wars it can't win, programs it can't support and debt it can't repay.
Every politician talks about shrinking the size of government. So far, nobody has followed through, and government just keeps growing. But the politicians are not solely to blame.
Contrary to popular belief, the government does mean well. Politicians and public servants of all kinds wish to better the lives of the people. The problem is they go about it the wrong way.
Government creates bureaucracy and spends public money on programs it can't regulate. In the short term it can do some good, but in the long term it tends to fall apart.
Just look at our city planning. America is the highest consumer of energy and the highest producer of pollution largely because the government invested in the development of suburbs after World War II.
With influence from construction and car lobbies, entire communities were moved and urban centers were left to decay while a select few, namely white Americans, reaped the benefits. Not only did this propagate racism, but it also led to the current energy dilemma we face today.
Ever wonder why our public transportation systems are so far behind Europe and other countries? It's because suburban planning was built around the car culture.
At first it was a pretty nice deal, but in the long run the well-intentioned plans of the government led to uncontrolled sprawl.
To make matters worse, it relied heavily on the constant flow of cheap oil and anybody who has been to the pump lately knows those days are over.
More than anything else, the extensive government investment into programs like suburbia has handicapped our society.
It's why our environmental policies are doomed to fail and why a generation has become entrenched in complacency. But it's more than just suburbia that the government has screwed up.
Education is another area where the government has good intentions, but fails to deliver in the long run. Government has a monopoly on schools in most parts of the country and it shows in test scores.
Despite spending more money per student than any other country, American students rank far behind the rest of the industrialized world. This is largely because of poor management indicative of all monopolies. In other countries, even public schools have to compete with private schools.
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Very well said! The point is not that we shouldn't be striving to make things better, but that it can only be done by individuals making good choices. Bureaucrats always end up working for their own interests, i.e. keeping their jobs.
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Jonathan, I agree that bureaucrats work to keep their jobs, but isn't that the point? Working to keep their jobs typically means fighting for the will of their constituents, which is precisely their job in the first place. In any case, I do agree that the government has good intentions but poor execution. For this reason I would like to see the government let our society run its course, without telling us what's best. After all, we're supposed to tell them what's best and they're supposed to be our voices.
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