Why big is not better

Someone noted that people are like manure: Spread out over the land they do a lot of good, but piled together they smell. I think that the ultimate pile is probably any oversized government — piled high in some tax-funded building it does what it does best, the wrong thing. George Washington put it bluntly: “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master.“
      Several points deserve discussion; first, that government is certainly not reason. I can’t think of any reasonable person racking up a debt that his progeny will have to pay, or forcing on his children an untried and questionable wellness program they don’t want, or doing away with locks on the doors in hopes that the local thugs will become nice people. Such unilateral decisions are not reasonable, except, of course, in terms of personal benefit. The abuse of power is the central malfeasance of mankind, the most common expression of universal narcissism. Secondly, government is certainly not eloquence, that is, good government. The lofty expression of mutual goals is harmless in itself, but what a nation needs is steady, sensible, realistic progress toward broadly accepted goals.
    What Washington said is exactly right: government is power— the larger the bureaucracy, the greater the power. Obviously, leadership is necessary in a civilized society, but the power it provides keeps expanding at an increasing rate until it gains absolute ascendancy. Since government is power, it needs desperately to be held in check, the sooner the better.
    Of special interest to me are Washington’s two descriptive phrases describing power. First, like fire it is a “troublesome servant.” Instead of carrying out the will of the master, it acts on its own. Theoretically, it should serve those who need its help, provide strength for those who falter, and safeguard the gains of yesterday’s struggle. But it is far more apt to do the opposite — instead of helping, it corrupts. Everyone knows Lord Acton’s famous remark, “Power tends to corrupt and complete power corrupts completely.” It is truly a “troublesome servant.” And it is also a “fearful master.” Anyone familiar with history knows that from the time of the Roman emperors such as Tiberius and Caligula to today’s Hitlers and Pol Pots, power has expressed itself in unbelievable cruelty. Power holds the opportunity for the greatest good, but on a regular basis, results in the greatest evil. Scripture teaches that government was established by God (Rom 13:1-7) and to rebel against a governing authority is to rebel against God (v. 2). Yet, that ideal is regularly perverted by sinful man, and power “corrupts completely.”
    Our founding fathers understood this, and devised a system of social regulation to counter the abuse of power. It is never to be lodged in one branch of government. This limitation on power has resulted in the birth and growth of what is certainly the most remarkable and productive nation in the world. Long live the use and control of this otherwise “fearful master.”