The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen. True or False? How much government do we really need?

[RingOfFire]

Too few Americans know history and the number is declining with every generation. They don't know that the purpose of the US Constitution, the most copied constitution in the history of the human race, was not to tell US citizens what they can and cannot do but to tell the newly founded United States federal government what IT can and cannot do. The purpose of the document was to put strict LIMITS on the power of the federal government so that it could not tread on the rights of individual citizens to pursue their own lives in the way THEY desire not the way some government bureaucrat wants them to live.

The founders knew that there is no such thing as a big government that is also a benevolent government. They know that the bigger the government, the smaller the citizen and they tried to put as many safeguards in that document as possible to restrict the government from overstepping its bounds and involving itself in citizens' lives to a degree that exceeds the minimal necessary to maintain a civil society.

But over the years, the government has gone so far beyond the boundaries of the Constitution that those who created is would not even recognize the country today. Through influence by big government socialists and communists, who believe that government is the answer to all problems, it has taken on far more power over the people than that document ever granted them. It's hard to put the genie back in the bottle but at least this administration is trying to make the structural changes that are necessary to begin down that path. Since President Trump took office, government jobs have been cut and private sector jobs have reached the highest level in US history.

Is what the founders believed still true: that the bigger the government the smaller the citizen?

Yes still true. The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen. Government has grown too much and is involved in every facet of your life. That isn't what the founders intended.

No it's not true. I am a Democrat/Socialist/Communist and the government should grow money on trees and give people everything for free. Unicorns and pregnant men are a REAL THING!

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1 mo

One of the best political ads ever made.

Every child should see this and be helped to understand the importance of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMx23FMo10U

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1 mo

The government is supposed to report to the citizens. Seems to me that it is more like the citizens who are forced to report to the government now, clearly not what was intended or codified in the Constitution.

[Just_Ken]

Largely depends. Government both federal to local needs to build and maintain Government. Problem i see with big Government in the US is the waste lc taxpayer money on bullshit through corruption, fraud and incompetence.

$50,300,000,000 (HHS) - The U. S. Government Accountability Office found $51.1 billion in improper payments—including overpayments, inaccurate recordkeeping, or fraud—in Medicaid during FY23

$50,000,000,000 (HHS) - Payments for alleged fraudulent overbilling of Medicare by insurance companies from 2019 to 2021

$43,600,000,000 (DOL) - The U. S. Government Accountability Office found $43.6 billion in improper payments—including overpayments, inaccurate recordkeeping, or fraud—in the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program during FY23

$22,600,000,000 (HHS) – Aiding illegal migrants through resettlement programs, home and car purchases, and loans.

21,900,000,000 (USDT) - The U. S. Government Accountability Office found $21.9 billion in improper payments—including overpayments, inaccurate recordkeeping, or fraud—in the Earned Income Tax Credit program during FY23

$18,700,000,000 (SBA) - The U. S. Government Accountability Office found $18.7 billion in improper payments—including overpayments, inaccurate recordkeeping, or fraud—in the Paycheck Protection Program Loan Forgiveness program during FY23

$14,600,000,000 (HHS) - Intended losses of allegedly fraudulent healthcare claims by 324 individuals, including 96 doctors, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists

$7,500,000,000 (DOT) – Funding a few dozen electric vehicle stations across the nation

[Just_Ken]

Government both federal to local needs to build and maintain *infrastructure *

[RingOfFire]

And protect our borders, and defend the country against foreign threats. That is the backbone of a legitimate government. Taking money from some people by force to give to other people is not. These programs are the heart of the corruption issue.

[Just_Ken]

Partly yeah but also important to bear in mind that many people on say welfare or disability either have paid into the system or were unable to. Should a guy who went out to work faithfully for 25 years paying his taxes and had an accident where he sadly say lost a leg, well should he be left to starve on the streets?

One of my favourite US infrastructure stories is about how President D Eisenhower saw how well the nazis autobann system worked for fast movement of vechiles that he wanted the US to have a similar system. He wanted safe evacuation routes and fast ways to move military troops and weapons. But like I say infrastructure from the water that comes from your faucet to the roads you drive on need mauntained and renewed.

[RingOfFire]

"Should a guy who went out to work faithfully for 25 years paying his taxes and had an accident where he sadly say lost a leg, well should he be left to starve on the streets?"

No, no disabled person who is unable to support themselves should. There is nothing wrong with helping those who legitimately need it. My point is that all of these programs that operate under the guise of compassion are ripe targets for fraud and inside government corruption and there are few safeguards in place that protect from it. Allowing these programs to bankrupt the country with no massive overhaul will be the downfall of the economy if drastic action isn't taken to stop the abuse. Bankrupting the system that is needed to help those genuinely in need is not compassion, it is evil.

[Just_Ken]

Welfare is meant to be like any insurance and like any insurance such as health insurance or car insurance the more people thst use it the more expensive it becomes.

Problem with a lot of politicians is that they bill taxpayers with all sorts of woke nonsense. One example.
$600,000 (USDA) – Supporting a study on the menstrual cycles in transgender men

[Snakeyes7]

We are in this situation because the government is no longer scared of us, this is why we never should have given them an inch with gun control, because they are trying to take it all the way and once that happens, they can do whatever they want and we can't do anything about it.

[RingOfFire]

I think that is a factor for sure. While I hate to think that things would ever come to citizens having to use guns to protect themselves from a rogue government, I do think that protecting citizens against that, should it ever be necessary, was one of the primary reasons for the Second Amendment. And it still makes sense to this day.

[Snakeyes7]

I wish we can simply vote our way out of our politicians clearly not caring about our interests, but as time goes on, the less convinced I am that we can.

[FreyaRed]

It's about power. Government power is an inflationary system so it needs steady growth, the government grows with it because it grants power with sinecures and subsides it offers.
The real question is how to reset it without devastation of civil war?

[RingOfFire]

Interesting comment.

[itss_lily]

it doesn't even make sense. a citizen can't exist without a governing body or group and even then, the government is supposed to govern us and offer help to those in need

[RingOfFire]

"a citizen can't exist without a governing body or group and even then, the government is supposed to govern us and offer help to those in need"

I am not surprised that at your age, with the poor educational system you are a victim of that you have this view. People are not born with a need to have an all powerful "government" ruling over them, forcing them to pay taxes, or providing for them. They are born with free will to do as they please with their lives whether the government likes it or not, a right to keep the fruits of their own labor and not have it taken away to be given to someone else and a right to succeed or fail based on their own abilities. Yes, I believe in charity. But not charity that someone else decides is appropriate and takes away property to contribute to. It is my right to decide what I want to contribute to others or whether I want to contribute anything at all because it is my property, not the government's or "society's."

You are born free not with an obligation to do what some government bureaucrat says you need to do. That is slavery, not freedom. Maybe this will help you see the point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMx23FMo10U

[itss_lily]

actually people with your view tend to be less educated. and who creates laws? laws are created by the government. police officers and law enforcement are also considered government workers and are paid via taxpayer money as well as the roads and infrastructure. you are asking for lawlessness and anarchy. aren't y'all pro-police? not to mention less access to education since teachers get pais via taxpayer money and k-12 education would cost thousands of dollars every year. life can't be a free-for-all, that is a fantasy. if someone does something unlawful or violent to you, dont call law enforcement then. hacked or threatened? dont call them. this is why people are "forced" to pay taxes as well as the fact that if it were optional, greedy people would NEVER do it. society needs unity to thrive and needs to be communal

[strateguy632]

At the moment democrats opose big government.

No more senate- that they lost, so government will be smaller. No executive branch- government would be smaller. But we need veto called check balance.

not "government control" of rent freeze or businesses. That is the problem of "big government" controlling lots of stuff.

[AviatorTom]

The US Constitution only gives the federal government three things to do: print money, provide for national defense, and control immigration. Everything else is left up to the individua states.

Yet, over time, the federal government has involved itself in many other things. Reducing the size and scope of the federal government is a step in the right direction.

[exitseven]

Thomas Jefferson says that the Government that governs least, governs best. A lot of the money the government spends is spent on things to enrich the government and not the citizens.

[MrChinaski]

Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone...

[RingOfFire]

"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot"

[RachyRach]

A good government isn't seen everyday yet things run smoothly

[Jersey2]

Only losers want bigger government. They foolishly think it will be better for them. Bigger government simply means bureaucratic, corrupt and slow… it becomes its own entity and is unwieldy.

[ThisSiteSux]

America's current government has done nothing since 2020 but prove that we don't need it at all. It doesn't protect us, provide for us, nothing. It does the opposite.

[Dargil]

Government is like JD Pritzer. Obese and corrupt.

[Cidknee]

Yes, and that's a good saying.

[FrodoSkywalker007]

I'd say that's true