Government is Evil, Please Vote For Me

I saw this quote by President Reagan and it caused me to ponder the lack of legitimacy of the anti-government Republicans, who are campaigning to serve in the government that they claim is "the problem." What really irks me about Ronald Reagan, is that he betrayed himself and his party when he left the Democrats and started preaching the conservative fallacies of the Republicans. The reason I say this is because when he was a Democrat, he was an admirer of FDR and acknowledged that FDR's policies saved his family during the Great Depression. How can a person who would have lost everything, if it wasn't for the humane government policies of the New Deal, turn around and despise the very government that saved his family from economic despair?

The whole statement is based on hypocrisy and ignorance of the progress that America made after the New Deal. They say that government is the problem but it was the government, laid out by FDR, that created the economic landscape that turned a country where most people didn't have plumbing in their homes, into a country where most people not only had plumbing but also telephones and automobiles. There is a natural urge to blame the Government for all of the country's problems but it is truly hypocritical to do so while running to be a part of government. If you think government is evil and can't do anything, get out of the way and don't run for office. Because contrary to what many conservatives believe, most Americans want a government that works; not one that obstructs progress and hinders society's improvement.

The truth is that when Republicans say they want to limit government, they are really saying that they want to limit democracy. Anyone who says the government is evil and shouldn't do anything for the good of the people is blind to the simple fact that in a democratic society, the people are the government and the government is the people. Many have been deceived into believing that if the government does more to benefit the "General Welfare" (See Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution) of the people, the people will lose their freedom. But if we are as Lincoln declared, "A government of the people, by the people, and for the people," we should not fear a big government, because in democracy that simply means that the people have achieved greater control of their destinies and the people that lead them. We are the rulers, we are the kings, and we ultimately dictate the kind of country America will be, now and in the future. So the next time you hear someone say that they want limited government, just remember who the government truly is and who they really want to limit.