The Dangers of Big Government
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By Alberto Acereda.
Democrats, and particularly Liberal Democrats, strongly believe in a key role for the government in society and in the personal lives of the citizens. This is not an American tradition. In fact, the omnipresence of big government in society and in the daily lives of individuals was introduced in Europe through the euphemistically named “welfare state.”
The experiment failed and today we already find an important number of Europeans fighting the interference of big government in their lives. They see it as the wrong approach and they look at the American tradition of freedom and individuality only to realize that the current U.S. government is taking the exact same path that socialized Europe wrongfully took decades ago.
According to these Statists -using Mark Levin´s term- societies can hardly survive without the government and the citizens of a country would not be able to survive on their own. Europeans understand now the failure of all those promises and premises. They see how the Utopian welfare states only lead to a bureaucratic state in which freedom is limited and the government has acquired unbelievable power, not only economically, but in all aspects of life.
Unfortunately, the winds of that type of European social democracy have reached the United States with a new presidency and Congress that are overthrowing the traditional American predominance for the individual.
The U.S. Constitution, as well as the founding documents of this nation, was specifically created to avoid the dangers of big government as well as provide a net of checks and balances to help individuals carry out their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
In 1903, the percentage of spending by the U.S. government in terms of GDP was only 6.8%. In 2009 it is already 44.7% without taking into consideration the money that both the President and the Democrats want to spend on the health care bill.
In the last decades Americans seem to have forgotten the key foundational principles of limited government. Those who framed the U.S. Constitution and signed it in 1787 wrote it precisely thinking of the importance of limiting the functions of the government as much as possible. They understood with great clarity that it’s not the money that corrupts, but the power, especially absolute power which in turn leads uninterruptedly to tyranny.
They also believed that the legitimate function of the government is to ensure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This can only be achieved by preventing the interference of big government and by maintaining a serious fiscal discipline.
The U.S. Constitution itself was sanctioned by the people (“We The People…”) with the purpose to form a more perfect nation, to establish justice, to strengthen interior stability, to supply the common defense, to promote general well being, and to make sure that, for present and future generations, the benefits of freedom could be experienced.
Those simple rules, found in the pages of the U.S. Constitution, seem to be ignored and almost forgotten. Just as in Europe, the Big Government in the United States is increasingly monopolizing power and establishing controls in almost all areas of the individual’s private life. Now, more than ever, The Federal Government controls too many areas of our lives.
Take a look at the size of its financial operations and its budget for public spending. Take a look at the high percentage of taxes that we citizens pay in order to run these governments and their bureaucracies. The American constitutional tradition is based on limited government. Conservatives simply want this tradition to be upheld and the Constitution to be followed.
Alberto Acereda, Ph.D. is a Professor in the School of International Letters and Cultures at Arizona State University and a Member of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language.
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I just read were Newt Gingrich is not an American Citizen, that he was born in England
To Ron in comment 2: I read that he was born in the United States and he is a strong advocate of volunteerism. Gingrich has long championed the positive impact every individual can have on society. He has raised millions of dollars for charity, donating both time and money to a wide array of causes, including Habitat for Humanity, United Cerebral Palsy, the American Cancer Society, and ZooAtlanta. A former environmental studies professor, he is widely recognized for his commitment to the environment and to the advancement of a new, common-sense environmentalism. In 1998, the Georgia Wildlife Federation named him Legislative Conservationist of the Year. But if you are happy thinking he was born in England… good luck.
Oh please what rubbish….your on the wrong website..
Angie, yes. Ron was truly in the wrong website. Now to the point. Did you like this column? I found it interesting and with a writer who probably experienced Big Governments… and knows what he is talking about!!!
Great column, in line with the dangers of Big Government that Barry Goldwater used to talk about. The data shown here that in 1903, the percentage of spending by the U.S. government in terms of GDP was only 6.8%., and that now in 2009 it is already 44.7% is astonishing! It is very well brought up here. And even more astonishing is that this is without taking into consideration the money that both the President and the Democrats want to spend on the health care bill. Thank you for the information!