Small government works

My liberal friends can never understand why I am so adamant about small government. It’s very simple; I think the one thing that makes this country unique, the thing that has produced the greatest economy of all time is individual freedom.  The larger the government the more individual freedom is limited.

For example - why is the United States and its citizens so much more prosperous that Mexico? Both countries have large land masses with abundant natural resources, both countries are functioning democracies. Are Mexican citizens not as smart? Are they lazy? Of course not!  The Mexican citizens I know are some of the hardest working people I have ever met.  I know Mexican small businessmen that are as smart and motivated as any I know in the US. So why the difference? Why is the US economy the largest in the world with a gross domestic product (GDP) of 14 trillion dollars while Mexico GDP is 14^th in the world at 1 trillion? You would have to go back to 1969 to see a US GDP as low as Mexico’s. Why is the US economy 14 times larger than Mexico’s? Why is the tiny island of Japan’s economy 4 times larger than Mexico’s?  What is the difference?

The difference is the government.

While Mexicans suffer from an overbearing government that micro-manages every facet of the Mexican economy and its citizen’s personal lives, the US government, up to at least the 1930s basically stuck to the few enumerated powers as defined by the constitution.  A small government is also less likely to suffer from the massive graft and corruption as we have seen with the Mexican government in the past. Citizens not encumbered by endless regulation and strangled by ever increasing taxes are more productive and freer.

 Almost every new law takes away another right. Every new tax decreases the ability for a tax payer to start a business or send their children to school. No one is begrudging the federal government the money it needs to carry out its constitutional duty.  But, as I’ve said before, isn’t 3.5 trillion dollars a year enough and if not - how much will be enough.