originally published 9/29/21

How much is too much?

            If someone were to ask you, “How big is the US government?,” how would you answer? Would you respond in terms of the budget ($6.6 trillion in outlays for 2020) (Congressional Budget Office, 2021), or the number of employees? (over 2 million federal civilian workers) (Congressional Research Service, 2021).  Would you answer in terms of what government does, or attempts to do, and by what criteria would you say that is either too much or not enough?

            The purpose and appropriate “size” of government is perhaps the most contentious difference between Liberals and Conservatives. A 2019 PEW Research poll revealed that 85% of Democrats support an active role for government. On the other side, nearly seven-in-ten Republicans complain that government is wasteful and inefficient, and eight-in-ten conservative Republicans say government is doing too many things better left to others.  (Pew, 2019)

            Conservatives generally want to limit the role of government in the economy, but support legal enforcement of norms of behavior, and aggressive military and police protection. Libertarians, who are sometimes included as Conservatives, don’t even want that, beyond the bare minimum.

            Conservative icon Adam Smith saw the responsibilities of the government as being limited to the defense of the nation, universal education, public works (infrastructure such as roads and bridges), the enforcement of legal rights (property rights and contracts), and the punishment of crime. (Blenman, 2020)

            In 2001, Grover Norquist, advisor to the Bush administration and founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, said, “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where size to where I could drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” (NPR, 2001)

            Conservative author and columnist George Will favors a limited government, one that is “respectful of market societies and individuals’ particular wants and their voluntary transactions.” What Conservatives want to conserve, he says, is the Founding Fathers’ principle of limited government, specifically, their “project of limited government, maintaining order, protecting property, and otherwise largely staying out of the way of individual striving.” The Conservative goal is to temper government “hubris and overreaching.” He states that the current Conservative movement was born in reaction to president Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s enlargement of the administrative or entitlement state. (Will, The Conservative Sensibility)

            FDR expressed and institutionalized Liberal ideology, proclaiming,  “Government has a final responsibility for the well-being of its citizenship.” He stated that the government had a duty to establish an American standard of living higher than ever known before, and that “We cannot be content no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people, whether it be one third or one fifth or one tenth is ill-fed, ill clothed, ill housed and insecure.” Roosevelt described an aspirational “second bill of rights,” to include a useful and remunerative job, adequate food, clothing and recreation, good education, decent homes, a decent living for farmers, adequate medical care, and a right to freedom from unfair competition and from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment. (Will, The Conservative Sensibility)         

            President Joe Biden pledges to invest in schools and increase pay for teachers, increase minimum wage, strengthen unions, provide access to affordable health insurance, and provide everyone access to affordable housing, defined as taking up no more than 30% of income. (JoeBiden.com)

            Liberal candidate Elizabeth Warren proposed a massive increase in government involvement in health care, energy, education, climate change and the regulation of the tech and financial services industries.  (Newport, 2019)

Socialism!

            Many conservatives accuse anyone who advocates for government regulations as being a Socialist. Strictly speaking, this is incorrect. Although there are many forms and definitions of Socialism, the term specifically refers to the communal ownership and control of resources and the means of production, i.e., business.  (Pruitt, 2020) It’s hard to blame Conservatives for their mistake. A 2018 Gallup poll revealed that only 17% of the country understands that definition (down from 34% in 1949). Not surprisingly, more than half of Democrats have a positive view of Socialism, compared to only 16% of Republicans. (Newport, 2018)

            Rather than “Socialism,” what we actually are referring to is the “Welfare State.” Typically, the Welfare State government seeks to protect the welfare—meaning the health and well-being—of its citizens. Welfare states commonly attempt to ensure that no citizen falls below a minimum standard of living, and they are provided with free medical care, education and old-age pensions. (Marketbusinessnews.com)

            Whereas the goal of the Welfare State is to provide a more equitable distribution of wealth and opportunity, and at least the minimum provisions of a decent life, it is derogatorily called the “Nanny State” by Conservatives.  (Kenton, 2020) They claim that the provisions crowd out charity and are abused by recipients, erode community and family values, and disincentivise work and people’s attempts to move out of poverty. Conservatives disapprove of such programs as rent control, minimum wage, and employment protection. (Balcerowics, 2018)

            The Welfare State is commonly embraced by Democratic Socialist parties. Democratic Socialists do not advocate for the nationalization of all industries (Haltiwanger, 2020), but want more government control of transportation, energy production, and medicine. (Democratic Socialists of America, 2021) Liberal politicians Bernie Sanders (Kruse, 2015) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Stickles, 2019) are Democratic Socialists.

            Conservatives have little to fear about an economic Socialist take over. History has exposed the weakness of Socialist economies. Sweden (Stossel 2019), India (Staley, 2020) and China (Zitelmann 2019) have all but abandoned them and have embraced free market principals. Communism, in which private property is forbidden (Pruitt, 2020), is even further out of the picture. Almost no one is advocating Communism.

            On the other hand, virtually all countries employ the principles of the Welfare State to some degree (Marketbusinessnews, Welfare State) The US military has been described as a “Socialist Paradise,” with government-owned Commissary and Base Exchange stores, subsidized housing and child care, and socialized medicine. Those living under it commonly love it. (Siegel, 2017) Conservatives are hardly inclined to criticize military life. The Welfare State may have its problems, but it is here, and it isn’t as bad as they fear.

Collectivism vs Individualism

            Conservatives tend to favor individualism—at least in terms of business—over the needs of the community, and fear that Liberals will force their collectivism on them.

Conservatives and Libertarians like George Will despise collectivism. Will accuses Liberals of wanting to make government “commensurate to the task of breaking American individualism to the saddle of collective purposes.” (George Will, The Conservative Sensibility) Republican senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole, as well as other conservative commentators, object to the statement, “it takes a village to raise a child” because of it’s collectivist implications. (Marcotte, 2015)

            Liberals embrace collectivism. The Conservative outcry against the “It takes a village” statement was aimed at Democratic senator and presidential candidate Hilary Clinton, who used it as the title of her 1996 book. (Marcotte, 2015) Clinton further displayed her collectivist orientation in her campaign slogan, “Stronger together,” (Waldman, 2016) which violated the Conservative ideal that individuals neither need nor should they be held responsible for help from the community, especially if “community” involves government.

Freedom

            Conservatives and Liberals have different definitions, or at least different opinions, about “freedom.” Conservatives believe that individuals should be free to “strive” without the burden and restrictions of government regulations. (George Will, The Conservative Sensibility).  Ronald Reagan, in his 1989 Farewell Address to the Nation, said, “Man is not free unless government is limited,” and, “as government expands, liberty contracts.”

            Liberals say people aren’t free if they have to work all the time just to survive, and have no opportunities to do anything but work. FDR proclaimed, “True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. ‘Necessitous men are not free men.’”  (USHistory.org, economic bill of rights) Leftists complain of “wage slavery,” i.e., unsatisfying jobs under conditions of subservience and subjection, where employers dictate the conditions of employment. (Gourevitch 2020)

Constitutionality

            Many conservatives complain that progressive Liberal policies violate the Constitution and the Founding Fathers’ original intent (that is, the intent to have limited government). They claim that Liberals want to dispense with the Constitution’s guiding principles as being archaic. Conservatives believe that the expectation that government attend to the health and well-being of its citizens, is a modern invention, starting with FDR’s “New Deal.” (George Will, The Conservative Sensibility)

            However, the Preamble to the Constitution states that one of its functions is “to promote the general welfare.” (Davis, 2011) As such, proposals with that aim are constitutional in their intent, although their extent and mechanisms are up for debate.

            Neither are programs to help the poor a recent invention. Queen Elizabeth’s 1601 “Poor Laws,” created to help the poor, were still in effect during colonial times. (Hansan, 2011) The framers would have reasonably retained these as a government function, although they did not delineate it, in the manner of brilliant ambiguity that the Constitution is famous for.

Natural Rights

            Conservative Author and Columnist George Will states that people have “natural rights” to private property, to strive to succeed, and to enter into contracts.  He states that the purpose of government is solely to protect these rights. He criticizes Liberals for failing to respect these as “natural” and inalienable rights. Furthermore, he accuses Liberals of believing that “rights” are a product of—and thus under the control of—government, rather than free-standing natural phenomena as perceived by Conservatives. (George Will, The Conservative Sensibility)

            Liberals embrace a broader sense of “basic human rights,” often including LGTBQ rights (Pillips, 2017), health care (Lee, 2017), and a “living wage” (Kennedy, 2017), but are less concerned about property rights and those espoused by Conservatives. (George Will, The Conservative Sensibility)

            Most of us consider that which is important to us to be a “natural” or basic right, and want government to enforce it. We should appreciate that those things we consider “rights” are based on our values, which derive from our intrinsic personalities, political and social environments, and economic and social positions. All of us will benefit when we focus less on our “rights,” and work to accommodate both our own and other people’s values.

Majority Tyranny vs The Common Man

            The framers of the Constitution wanted to restrict the ability of a majority to violate the “natural rights” of a minority. (George Will, The Conservative Sensibility) This would be necessary so that, for example, 2 people in a party of 3 could not “vote” to plunder the 3^rd. Conservatives, who generally compose the wealthy minority, favor protecting their “natural rights” from the majority.

            Liberals, however, are majoritarian by nature. They are more sympathetic towards “the common man,” believing that denying the “majority rules” power of the majority gives unfair advantage to the minority of privileged elites. (Dagger, Classical Liberalism)

Regulations, Taxes and Spending

            These are big subjects, which are covered in detail in their own sections. In a nutshell, Conservatives (and Libertarians, vehemently so), advocate decreased government spending and regulations, and want to decrease taxes (“starve the beast”) in order to achieve that aim. (Nelson, 2019) Liberals want more government involvement in society, and want to reduce income inequality, so they advocate increased taxes on the wealthy.

Conclusion:

            Conservatives and Liberals have different definitions for such basic words as freedom and rights. These differences cause misunderstanding and misattribution, resulting in conflicts that might be avoided if each side learns the vocabulary of the other.

            Our personality characteristics, as well as our social and financial positions, produce different values. Again, many conflicts can be avoided when we understand and appreciate where ours and their values come from, even if we don’t agree.

            We should embrace the fact that the purpose of government is debatable, and the appropriate “size” of government is arbitrary. The exercise of Democracy is our best chance to get along and get things done.

            What problems government should attempt to solve, and what government is competent to solve, are vital issues that we should discuss openly, with open minds. That’s our job, for those of us in the middle.

references:

Balcerowics, Leszek. and Marek Radzikowski. The Case for a Targeted Criticism of the Welfare State. Winter 2018,  accessed 6/25/21 https://www.cato.org/cato-journal/winter-2018/case-targeted-criticism-welfare-state

Blenman, Joy. Adam Smith and “The Wealth of Nations” Updated Feb 6, 2020, accessed 10/1/20. https://www.investopedia.com/updates/adam-smith-wealth-of-nations/

Congressional Budget Office. The Federal Budget in Fiscal Year 2020: An Infographic April 30, 2021 accessed 7/12/21 https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57170

Congressional Research Service. Federal Workforce Statistics Sources: OPM and OMB Updated June 24, 2021   downloaded 7/13/21 https://crsreports.congress.gov

Dagger, Richard. Classical Liberalism. Accessed 7/3/21. https://www.britannica.com/topic/liberalism/Rights

Davis, Martha F. ‘To Promote the General Welfare.’ September 15, 2011, accessed 6/30/21. https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/to-promote-the-general-welfare/

Democratic Socialists of America. What is Democratic Socialism? accessed 6/26/21. https://www.dsausa.org/about-us/what-is-democratic-socialism/

Gourevitch, Alex. Bernie Sanders Was Right to Talk About Wage Slavery. We Should Talk About It, Too. 01.24.2020.  accessed 6/30/21https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/01/wage-slavery-bernie-sanders-labor

Haltiwanger, John. Here’s the difference between a ‘socialist’ and a ‘democratic socialist.’ Feb 11, 2020, accessed 6/26/21. https://www.businessinsider.com/difference-between-socialist-and-democratic-socialist-2018-6

Hansan, J.E. English Poor Laws: Historical Precedents of Tax-Supported Relief for the Poor. 2011, accessed 6/25/21. http://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/poor-laws/

and Poor relief in early America. 2011, accessed 6/25/21.https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/poor-relief-early-amer/

JoeBiden.com. Accessed 6/23/21 https://joebiden.com/governmentreform/

Kennedy, Sheila.  A Living Wage: a Human Right for All May 17, 2017, accessed 7/3/21.https://inequality.org/research/living-wage-human/

Kenton, Will. Welfare State. Updated Nov 25, 2020 accessed 6/25/21. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/welfare-state.asp

Kruse, Michael. 14 things Bernie Sanders has said about socialism. 07/17/2015 accessed 6/26/21. https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/14-things-bernie-sanders-has-said-about-socialism-120265

Lee, Mara. Progressives, led by Bernie Sanders, want to shift healthcare reform debate. August 18, 2017, accessed 7/3/21 https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20170818/NEWS/170819886/progressives-led-by-bernie-sanders-want-to-shift-healthcare-reform-debate

Marcotte, Amanda. Hillary Clinton Defies Right-Wing Critics, Endorses Universal Pre-K. June 18, 2015 accessed 6/28/21. https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/06/conservatives-hate-it-takes-a-village-hillary-clinton-embraces-it-by-endorsing-universal-pre-k.html

Market Business News.  Welfare State – definition and meaning. Accessed 6/25/20 https://marketbusinessnews.com/financial-glossary/welfare-state-definition-meaning/

Nelson, William E. The shutdown: Drowning government in the bathtub. February 12, 2019, accessed 7/15/21. https://theconversation.com/the-shutdown-drowning-government-in-the-bathtub-111333

Newport, Frank. The Meaning of “Socialism” to Americans Today. October 4, 2018, accessed 6/24/21. https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/243362/meaning-socialism-americans-today.aspx

Newport. Frank. Elizabeth Warren’s Two Approaches to Government. October 1, 2019, accessed 6/23/21. https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/267155/elizabeth-warren-two-approaches-government.aspx

NPR. Morning Edition, interview w Mara Liasson, May 25, 2001, accessed 7/18/20

PEW Research Center. In a Politically Polarized Era, Sharp Divides in Both Partisan Coalitions  Views of government and the nation. December 17, 2019  accessed 9/3/20 https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/12/17/views-of-government-and-the-nation/

Phillips,  Amber . Could the gay rights community be the next progressive heavyweight? July 11, 2017, accessed 7/3/21. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/07/11/could-the-gay-rights-community-be-the-next-progressive-heavyweight/

Pruitt, Sarah. How Are Socialism and Communism Different? Original: Oct 22, 2019 Updated Nov 4, 2020 Accessed 6/26/21. https://www.history.com/news/socialism-communism-differences

Siegel, Jacob. Troops of the Uniform Unite! The Military Is a Socialist Paradise! The Daily Beast Updated Jul. 12, 2017, Published Apr. 21, 2014, Accessed 7/15/20. https://www.thedailybeast.com/troops-of-the-uniform-unite-the-military-is-a-socialist-paradise

Staley, Sam. The Rise and Fall of Indian Socialism. Why India embraced economic reform. June 2006 issue, accessed 7/16/20. https://reason.com/2006/06/06/the-rise-and-fall-of-indian-so-2/

Stickles, Nisha and Barbara Corbellini Duarte. Exclusive: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explains what democratic socialism means to her. Mar 4, 2019, accessed 6/30/21.

https://www.businessinsider.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-explains-what-democratic-socialism-means-2019-3

Stossel, John. Sweden Isn’t Socialist. In international economic-freedom comparisons, Sweden often earns a higher ranking than the U.S. 1.2.2019, accessed 7/16/20 https://reason.com/2019/01/02/sweden-isnt-socialist/

USHistory.org. The Economic Bill of Rights. accessed 6/29/21. https://www.ushistory.org/documents/economic_bill_of_rights.htm

Waldman, Paul. Opinion: What Hillary Clinton’s latest slogan — ‘we’re stronger together’ — really says about her candidacy. May 23, 2016 accessed 6/28/21    https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/05/23/what-hillary-clintons-latest-slogan-were-stronger-together-really-says-about-her-candidacy/

Will, George. The Conservative Sensibility. New York, NY : Hachette Books, 2019. ©2019. Audiobook, accessed June, 2021.

Zitelmann, Rainer. China’s Economic Success Proves the Power of Capitalism. Jul 8, 2019, accessed 7/29/20. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rainerzitelmann/2019/07/08/chinas-economic-success-proves-the-power-of-capitalism/?sh=35a3fc2c3b9d