MediumTex wrote:
I like the idea of state and local governments shouldering a lot more public functions, just as the Constitution prescribed.
Precisely right. In response to the question of how small government should get, Harry Browne answered, "I want a government small enough to fit inside the Constitution."
The most successful systems are robust and flexible. We have only one federal government. If we want maximum flexibility, this component of our government should be as small as possible. The more "features" that are glommed on to it trying to meet every need of every person in a vast nation, the more complex it gets and the harder it becomes to predict the side effects of such interactions. In the software development world, this anti-pattern is so common that it has a name: the
Big Ball of Mud.
One day you wake up with a system that is so complex that even though you know it is filled with waste and garbage, you're too afraid to change it because you don't know what will happen.
The Framers foresaw this problem, specifically enumerating a very limited set of governmental functions. The 10th Amendment specifically insists that everything else was reserved to the states or to the people. Interestingly, when Madison proposed it, many thought that it was so obvious that it ought to be unnecessary. (They hadn't considered how inconvenient politicians in the 20th century would find this design feature of the Constitution.)
It's fascinating to read these arguments being played out in the Federalist Papers. These men really knew how to design a system of government. We as a country completely lucked out in the "Founding Fathers" lottery.
moda0306 wrote:
I see this as a flaw of an apathetic and/or uneducated public... which will lead to just as many poor private-sector decisions. I may not trust the future of SS and medicare, but I also don't trust:
- 90% of car salesmen
You don't need to fear the used car salesman. He can't use force on you or confiscate your wealth. Just walk away from him. The government exists to protect you from force and fraud. The rest is down to who you choose to associate with.