Ideology, Again!

The conservative versus liberal debate goes on. The coronavirus pandemic only exacerbates it. With time on their hands, the ideologues, however, have gone into hyperdrive. The only ones pushing hard, it seems, are the conservatives.


To simplify, the central point is big or small government. That is the core question.


The need for government is a given. No one is for anarchy in these debates. Yes, some people are anarchists, but they are not the participants in the current ‘conversation’.


Small government supporters recognize the need for common defense of a nation’s borders, thus military capability is a given. What size the military is an open question of course. Small government supporters would likely support international relations and the need for ambassadors and diplomats. The role of that staff, however, would be very limited.


Small government fans would most likely eliminate most regulations dealing with the environment, education, and health and human services. They would leave such matters in the hands of the several states.


Commerce likely would be regulated by small government fans but only to the least degree, to maintain an orderly flow of goods and services among the states and between nations.


That’s it, I think. I may have missed a number of other program areas, but the above are the main items.


Now, the opposite side I have labeled big government fans. That title is a misnomer, however, because ‘big’, liberal or progressive political supporters, are more likely fans of ‘right sized government’. Although highly variable in scope, the right sized argument would provide government services enough to do the job, but not to overwhelm private and state authority. Getting that balance right would always be a tantrum ready to explode.


To continue the discussion, however, here are the things that would be missing under a small government scenario:

1.      Social Security program; it is managed by the federal government but is paid for entirely from taxes/premiums collected via payroll taxes  

2.      Medicare program; also paid from payroll taxes but administered by federal authorities

3.      Medicaid program; only state programs would exist, if any; currently, federal general tax revenue supports most of the expense of Medicaid

4.      Public welfare program; although administered by states, most of the dollars are federal and subsidized by state taxpayers

5.      Unemployment benefits; federally collected taxes on payroll pays for this program entirely. States administer the program and subsidize payouts

6.      Education; federal standards for equal access and quality would disappear; states would continue to administer their own education system without federal oversight, standards or financial assistance; separation of church and state issues would be free in each state to prosper or die

7.      Occupational Safety and Health Administration; would disappear and states would or may not pick up the responsibility of nurturing safe working environments

8.      Commerce regulations; would lessen and allow monopolistic and oligopolistic firms to form to lessen competition and cause price inflation. This would be most noticeable in products and services associated with public utilities and minerals, mining, etc.

9.      Public Health programs; coordination of standards, access to care, and coordinated research on medical procedures and drugs would disappear and left up to market forces and the states. Pandemic planning and coordination would be zero; states would have to manage these on their own

10.   Environmental Protection; national standards and protections would disappear; all would rely on states to administer. Chaos would likely reign throughout the entire arena and chaotic markets would appear in commerce. Danger to environment would increase along with a likely acceleration of climate change.

11.   National Parks and Monuments; would not disappear but they would likely degrade as federal funding would disappear.

We can stop here. There are more topics that extend the list, some of them more important than the ones mentioned above. But let’s move on.


Please remember that the above are the points in the ‘big government versus small’ debate. There are those who would heighten the drama with pejorative terms like socialism, communism, anarchy and more. Let’s not get into any of that. Let’s just focus on the items mentioned in this posting.


Government is needed at all levels of our nation given the fact we have 50 independent states and more territories in the mix. Leaving them alone to fight over policy and scarce resources would be a certain disaster. How ro size government apparatus to do the best job without turning into a humongous bureaucracy is the central problem needing to be managed.


Now, let the discussion continue!


May 2, 2020