Re: Townhall.com – 12/10/2008 – “The Big Government Light Brigade” – Terence Jeffrey

Sticking to principle is virtuous when and only when the principle you stick to is a clearly defined principle worth sticking to.

The problem with the “small government” as a principle is that “small” is undefined, perhaps indefinable.

The smallest possible government is no government at all. No law. No national defense. No protection from your neighbor taking or using your property without your consent. It would be a “might makes right” world. The biggest possible government is an all pervasive government that can and does do everything. No private property, just restricted government granted permits to use property. No inalienable rights, just government granted rights. It would be a strictly regulated micromanaged world. There is a huge range of sizes between the smallest government and the largest government. Any government between the two extremes is bigger than the smallest and small than the biggest and in someone’s eyes is too big and in someone else’s eyes is too small.

In reality, many of those screaming for smaller government thru eliminating the social umbrella or business and environmental regulation want more government in some areas, for example, in national defense or morality enforcement. Of course, others want to increase government intervention into social, business, and environmental issues while expending less energy in national defense or interfering with issues of personal behavior.

It is my opinion, the only reasonable “principle” governing the size of government is “no government should be any larger or any smaller than is required to accomplish the goals for which that government was instituted among men”. In my opinion, “big government” is not a principle but a derogatory mantra of those who wish to reduce some specific area of government intervention while “small government” is a complementary mantra of those who wish to reduce some specific area of government intervention.