I Believe in Small Government by Drew Gremel

I believe in small government. But I am probably in the minority. As our economy goes into a recession, people are looking towards the government to save them with huge bailout packages and broad, powerful government programs. There is a general consensus that giving the government more power over our lives is not only harmless, but actually beneficial. Over the last decade or so, Washington has stepped in to save us from ourselves. They've made wearing seatbelts and motorcycle helmets required by law. They've outlawed smoking altogether in more than one state, and are looking to do so in Nebraska. In all of these cases, the government is right, you should wear you seatbelt or your helmet, and you shouldn't smoke. But it's not their job to make sure we take care of ourselves. The role of the government is to protect the coasts, deliver the mail and collect the taxes, not to be the people's doting nanny.

Another area of increasing government intervention is in the economy. There is a feeling that leaving the free market to work for itself is dangerous, and it needs to be regulated. This is true, but only too some extent. Programs like the FDA are vital to making sure the food we eat is up to rigorous standards and uncontaminated. But over regulation of the market can kill the entire system. The workings of the free market are incredible, and we constantly take them for granted.

Every day, each of us uses dozens of goods and services. We take it for granted that they will be available when we want to buy them. We never stop to think how many people have played a part in one way or another in providing those things. Every single mass produced item that you buy goes through a thousand steps and a thousand procedures before it ends up on the shelf of your local store. And no one person or organization coordinates it all, It would be impossible to control it all. Every company, from the manufacturer to the shipping company to the retailer only has a hand in a fraction of the entire production. But it all gets done efficiently because everyone involved has something to gain for it being done right. Everybody is in it for something. This is why the free market is so special, and this is why the government should not be allowed to interfere too much. They are toying with an amazing mechanism that few people really understand.