Posted by
Andrews on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 2:06:58 PM
I think it is time we all admitted that the government has grown so large that we are all, or almost all, tainted by it. We have been born, raised, and lived in a nation where the government has its fingers in everything, and we have grown used to it. No matter how conservative we think we are, each of us still has some government program we cannot imagine giving up, and so we somehow imagine that that one little bit of big government is really a conservative bit of big government.
We hear it all the time. "I believe in small government, but they should still control television programming", "I am for smaller government, but we need farm subsidies", "I am for free trade INSIDE the US, but we need to keep out unfair foreign competition", "even a conservative needs to protect workers from unscrupulous bosses", "I am a conservative, but we need to reign in the big oil companies", "I am a conservative, but I care about the environment", and on and on.
It is time for us to cast aside all these remnants of big government. We can't say we are conservatives fighting for small government while we continue to hang on to bits and pieces of big government. Especially if we each have our own pet cause. One wants protectionism, one wants farm subsidies, one wants public schools, one wants drugs kept illegal, and so on.
If we oppose big government, we oppose all big government. We can't allow bits and pieces to survive.
And worse still, it makes us inconsistent. If we say "big government is bad except..." then we have already lost. The most consistent side wins in every dispute. Once we allow one bit of big government, the liberals have won, as they can build on that one concession until they get everything they desire. And since we allowed them the one bit of big government, how can we argue against them?
Of course, there are those who argue that conservatism is not about small government, that defense or social conservatism or protectionism is more important. And so I may be wrong. Maybe ending gay marriage or establishing economic autonomy or putting up government funded nativities is more important than smaller government. If so, tell me and I will find another movement.
But as long as I believe conservatism is about small government, then I think we must end all these little concessions to big government and state clearly, "We want less government, period."
POSTSCRIPT
My position on federalism is not changed by this statement.
My beliefs are as follows: I think federalism is the ideal as it devolves power to the local governments, which are more responsive. To be truly effective federalism, we need to grant those local and state governments a lot of autonomy, including the ability to institute local big government solutions.
However, even with federalism, I would argue that a small government, libertarian, laissez-faire solution is best. I will fight first to get federalism and local control, and then I will fight locally for the smallest government possible.
See, completely consistent.