Why Gove​rnment is Not The Answer?

When I worked in Republican politics one of the things that we were often told to we young interns/campaign workers was this maxim:

The government does nothing well

Or this variant: Government is not the answer

“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

This idea was put forth by Ronald Reagan in this famous quote

This ethos is important to understanding how Republicans arrive to the problems in society. Take inequality for example, the GOP solution to income inequality is a job. But that job, which frequently doesn’t pay enough for a decent living does not include a mandatory increase in wages (because that’s the government) and in extreme cases doesn’t even include labor protections that we’ve all grown used to having. Often, conservatives are content to let the market solve the problem. To the working poor, they say, “if you aren’t making enough money, just get another job that pays better.” However, they count on the labor market as being endlessly flexible and they count on employees being able to negotiate fairly with employers. The only conditions where workers have the leverage to do that are within a union. Workers, on their own, in the face of capital do not have that kind of power unless they are in high demand fields where the labor market is very small and specialized. 

We Must Live in Fear of Government

Living in fear of government over-reach is practically the raison d’être of the United States. It’s just apart of who we are. The founders had lived on a tyrannical regime and decided to throw off the chains and pursue their own path. One of the things they feared most was another large government entity taking over American life. This idea infected the Country well into the 20th century when, after the progressive movement things started to change and people began to see government as a force for social good rather than something to be feared. However, many Americans still believe that government is the problem and certainly not the solution.

What Does Government Do?

The sad reality is that government does far more than people think. When people think of government they often think of the major social welfare programs. Republicans since Reagan have made a big deal about Johnson’s Great Society reforms that added programs like WIC and Food Stamps. However, government does far more, especially around the environment. Local government is what makes sure we have roads, emergency services, health services, and building codes. Government makes sure that buildings have many exits in case of fire and ensure that the disabled can get around in the world. Government also regulates how we’re treated at the office too. Government has radically transformed society from the days of old when many of the protections we now take for granted didn’t exist. In the world of the 19th century many safety regulations didn’t exist, fire service was spotty, policing was spotty, and building regulations were virtually non-existent. Traffic laws and car safety standards have saved many lives. Regulations in food and drink keep people from having food borne illnesses. Government is often responsible for local water delivery and in the past government used to deliver power and gas. Economically, government makes sure competition remains in the market and that products aren’t dangerous or are removed quickly if they are dangerous. In some ways, government has done so many things and done them so very well that many people have long forgotten that government has done much and does much to improve society and make things far safer for everyone.

Should Government Take a Greater Role?

The biggest discussion right now, especially when it comes to healthcare but also a greater level has to do with what kind of role the government plays in society. On the one side, the Republicans want the government to play as small a role as possible. Much of the legacy Trump will leave behind has to do with his systematic dismantling of the federal government and his free handouts to corporations in both land and regulations. On the other side, Democrats want to see the government take a greater role in society and making sure that everyone has the opportunity to survive and thrive within the greater society. This means providing healthcare, public housing, transit, and other services to people who would not be able to afford them otherwise. The for-profit healthcare system is bankrupting people. On the popular crowd-funding platform GoFundMe, their greatest category of funding type is medical bills. People are standing on the digital street corner asking for help with medical bills. Americans are already paying for healthcare through premiums, deductibles, and charity. Rather than paying through all these means, why don’t we relieve businesses and people of the burden, have a simple tax for everyone and reduce healthcare costs and administration? That’s the power of government. Government enables us to drive without having to buy a road subscription. Government allows us to escape buildings safely without having to rely on the foresight of others to plan enough exits. Government is not just laws and rules. It is also how we decide to live as a society.

Big Government = Bad Government

It is deep on GOP ethos that big government is simply a bad thing and that private people and communities can decide better for themselves than any over arching entity like the federal government. However, there are severe downsides to this. Education suffers the most from this sort of thing because it is entirely locally controlled. Where a child grows up decides how good of an education they might receive and determines a great deal of their future. This is not equality before the law and it does not make for an equal society. There are problems that can only be solved by big government. As a democracy, we can decide as a group through our representatives how things should be constructed. We can decide how to do things are to be in our society. That is one of the things neoliberalism coming from the right has robbed us of: society. Many people don’t think of themselves as belonging to a greater society. They feel like they belong to themselves and themselves only. When that is the case and ever-more responsibility is shoved onto the individual, especially in employment, it makes sense that people would either pull back from society entirely or decided to change the paradigm.

Think Like a Society

Society only works when people participate in it and also benefit from it. This is a basic human need. We only have so much energy to fulfill our needs and so we have to prioritize where we spend that energy and how we fulfill our needs. Modern society has become so divisive and so focused on the individual that the benefits of participating in society are becoming fewer and fewer. There is a reason that there are so many angry young men shooting up places: society has let them down. This is true for the young man who joins a gang in the inner city as much as it is true for the mass shooter dressed in armor causing terror. In both cases, society has let them down. Women are not immune either, women often fall through the cracks on reproductive care or within medicine. These are problems that must be solved and the best way is to have a functioning society that serves the most that it can. Big government is not the problem and small government isn’t the solution either. The solution is to have a functioning, whole society that services all members and gives enough to keep everyone engaged. Is government the answer? Often yes, but what gives government meaning and value is the way in which it serves the greater society. We as a society must make government work for everyone and not just the few.