Big Government: Big Danger
The same illness, just a different country – in this case America:
Bigger government means more government employees. Those employees then become a permanent lobby for continual government growth. The nation may have reached critical mass; the number of government employees at every level may have gotten so high that it is politically impossible to roll back the bureaucracy, rein in the costs, and restore lost freedoms.
People who are supposed to serve the public have become a privileged elite that exploits political power for financial gain and special perks. Because of its political power, this interest group has rigged the game so there are few meaningful checks on its demands. Government employees now receive far higher pay, benefits, and pensions than the vast majority of Americans working in the private sector. Even when they are incompetent or abusive, they can be fired only after a long process and only for the most grievous offenses.
It’s a two-tier system in which the rulers are making steady gains at the expense of the ruled. The predictable results: Higher taxes, eroded public services, unsustainable levels of debt, and massive roadblocks to reforming even the poorest performing agencies and school systems. If this system is left to grow unchecked, we will end up with a pale imitation of the free society envisioned by the Founders.
An English Lesson for America
I should, of course, have written ‘A British Lesson for America’, but that wouldn’t have made such a good title.
Anyone who seriously wishes to see where current programmes of massive spending will lead the US economy and American society need only study what has happened in Britain. High taxes and low growth are the inevitable outcome…
Robin Harris, a member of Margaret Thatcher’s Policy Unit, on the lessons America can learn from Britain’s recent past. He seems to think that the impact of Margaret Thatcher was only temporary. Sadly, he may be right.
The Thatcher years had a profound effect on Britain, but not profound enough to expunge the legacy of socialist thinking. After she left office, the British political class relaxed and Britain itself reverted increasingly to the mentality which had dominated Britain in the post-War years. The so-called Welfare State, characterised by cradle-to-grave social provision and state monopoly, has never been finally discredited. It is the subliminally accepted goal of many, perhaps most, British politicians even today.
