Why Big Government Spending is Wrong

People talk about the need to cut government spending. I agree, but not for reasons of fiscal accountability. Yes, deficit spending and the national debt — quite literally the spending of wealth not yet created by people two, three or four generations from now — make the devaluation of the currency and the ultimate collapse of our economy inevitable, if left unchecked. That is no small concern. But even if that collapse could be prevented, government spending (as we know it) is morally and politically wrong. Outside of defense and the maintenance of a minimal government, our elected leaders are using money to curtail or obliterate the rights of individuals. In short, Big Government is for the most part taking money by force to impose its policies on people who, in most cases, don’t want that policy imposed. It’s tyranny, whether it costs hundreds of billions of dollars (as it did under Bush and Clinton) or whether it costs trillions (as it now does under Obama). The principle is wrong regardless of the price tag. People who voted for Obama as well as “moderate Republicans” ignore this at their peril, and at everyone’s peril. I honestly don’t know that even the Tea Party rebels understand this. Big Government is not just fiscally reckless; it’s morally bad. There will be no new “revolution” in America worth the name until we obtain permanent government policies honoring these facts.