How the Growth of the Federal Government Endangers Freedom

by Phillip Donavan

There are many who would oppose this view, but even more who would endorse it – but no matter how long and hard you argue about the issue, the simple and unvarnished truth is that the growth of any federal government does endanger the freedom of the people. If you want proof of this, read on:

· Any federal government has no resources of its own; it has to impose taxes on the citizens of the nation it governs. However, in a democratic setup, a federal government has to get elected by the citizens of the country. And in order to do this, each party makes promises, some which are unrealistic but which are made anyway so they can come to power. And when they do get elected, there is immense pressure on the government to beg, borrow or steal to fulfill these promises, because if they don’t, they’re not likely to retain office for a second term. So they raise taxes, their justification being that higher taxation is necessary to serve the public better. But when people shell out more on taxes, they have less money to make choices among their other necessities. This is a vicious cycle that becomes worse with each consecutive government – as deficits burgeon and the government announces larger budgets, the size of the government grows and it becomes less efficient. And with the loss of efficiency, comes a loss of control, which in turn does not bode well for the people.

· A federal government that provides public services enjoys a monopoly over these services – the legal system, the education system, the healthcare system, and many others are run by the government. With no private service providers, or very few that are inordinately expensive, the freedom of choice for the people of the country is severely restricted. If they’re not happy with the services the federal government is providing, they cannot choose an alternative. And if there is a dispute in the way the services are being run, the government is the final authority which effectively means that nothing can be done about it and that they have to suffer in silence.

· The more a government does, the less freedom the people have – to find an example of this, all you have to do is take a look at the proposal for reforms in the healthcare industry which makes it mandatory for everyone to have health insurance. Why won’t the government let people take charge of their health instead of insisting that they’re covered by insurance? If you read the book Freedom at Risk by James Buckley, erstwhile Conservative who served in the State Department under Ronald Reagan, you’ll find that the points he makes are very valid. Buckley says in his book that the growth of the federal government is “intrusive” and that “Americans are being stifled by an overdose of federal interventions”.

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This guest post is contributed by Phillip Donavan, who writes on the subject of Online Political Science Degrees . Phillip can be reached at his email id: phillip.donavan@gmail.com .