Americans Are Spoiled By Government

See if you agree with me on this. Americans a bunch of spoiled brats. They're spoiled by our government. 

I'm not talking about Congress, which is a disaster. Congress is not the same as government; if government were a corporation (a comparison that is usually invalid, but let's just use it this once) Congress would be the policy committee. The President would be the CEO, who still has a lot of influence in broad strokes. But much the same way you wouldn't hate all Ford cars because you don't like the CEO, you shouldn't hate all government if you don't like the President. 

I'm talking about government: the millions of government employees who make sure our water and food doesn't kill us, who protect us both within the country and from foreign threats, who teach our children, etc., etc. I'm even talking about those dreaded bureaucrats who might do things too slowly and inefficiently for your schedule, but still get done many important things that you don't notice or appreciate. People don't conceive of a world where these things don't occur, because they've never experienced it. 

They would experience it if they visited a third-world country. There they would see what small government really looks like. You have very few protections in life. Economies are small and local because you don't buy from people you don't know and trust. Trade is minimal. Living standards are low. Education is only for the wealthy.

Every developed nation has a large government, most much larger than ours, proportionally speaking. Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries -- basically every country with a high standard of living and high rankings in every measure of success also has much higher taxes than the United States. And that's despite the fact that we have the largest military in the world by far, bigger and more expensive than the next eight militaries combined.

Government can of course get too big and try to control too many things, as it has in Cuba and Venezuela. There are many areas of the economy that government should not get involved in. Governments setting prices for goods, for example, is a terrible idea. Communism always results in massive tragedies that kill millions. It should never be attempted again.

But there are still many things that the government does better than the private sector. Obviously, government is better at things like justice systems and national defense and roads. I'd also argue that they're better at health insurance; countries that have national health insurance, essentially Medicare for all, have cheaper health care with better outcomes than does the United States.

I think a central problem with the United States is our excessive, knee-jerk distrust of government. Skepticism is good; you have to keep government accountable. But cynicism is bad. Cynicism of government underlies the entire Republican party, and we're seeing it in stark terms with Trump's cabinet picks. 

If these people succeed in dismantling the departments they have been picked to "lead," we'll gain first-hand experience of what it's like to be in a third-world country. It will unleash a lot of terrible things you never thought could happen here. Every month will see something like the 2008 financial collapse or the BP oil spill, both of which resulted from deregulation and/or lax enforcement of regulations. Then once again everyone will switch from "Why won't government get out of our lives?!" to "Why won't government fix our lives?!"

Of course, then that will only reinforce the cynicism of government, and the spiral will continue. That's the Republican game: Say government doesn't work, and then get elected and prove it. We only break the spiral when we all learn about and appreciate all that government does and can do.

Anyway, this is mostly a rehashing of "Government is Good," by Douglas Amy, which I highly recommend. Please read it.