The inevitability of all government to eventually grow to the point where nothing works is one of life's truths many of us are loath to accept. Think about all the things that "The Government" controls and all the money that citizens send to their various levels of government and ask yourself, are you getting your money's worth?
The obvious answer, unless you are among those sending less to the government than the government is sending you in return, is "no".
While government on the whole is a good idea, too much government, like any other addiction such as alcohol or drugs, is harmful. When we consider how government functioned in a cost/benefit context, say 50 years ago and compare it today, it's clear that government has gone awry.
We have allowed ourselves to be regulated to the point where it's really difficult not to break the law. Everything we do is ruled to some degree by some bureaucratic fiat that dictates the method in which it is to be done properly, safely and/or legally.
Regulations such as seatbelt laws, child seat regulations, bicycle helmet laws, smoking proscriptions, gun regulations, etc. convey the message that we are largely irresponsible and require the government's help in living our lives safely.
The institutions that supposedly serve us are providing poorer and poorer levels of quality, while their costs continue to escalate. Why is it that in 1956 the average family had one breadwinner, while today two breadwinners are barely enough to provide for even a small family? The tax burden of those 50s families were about 10% of what they are today, yet the level of government services provided seemed to be adequate. Children managed to get a decent elementary education, go to university and emerge with useful skills that ensured a rewarding career. While social services were not as intense 50 years ago as they are today, it was rare then to see people who were homeless or even panhandlers asking for spare change. Today we spend more on social programs than at any time in our history, yet the poor and the homeless seem to be multiplying logarithmically.
Could it be that the increase in government spending on everything from healthcare to education to social and family services is because the bureaucracies supporting these services have gotten out of hand and taken on a life of their own? Go to any level of government today from municipal, to regional, to provincial to federal and every department within those levels of government is crying poor, claiming that if they only had more money they could do a better job. Consequently, most of what we hear from our politicians is that they need more revenue and as a result taxes can only ever go in one direction--up.
all government departments at all levels of government do their budgeting on the basis of the previous year's budget, plus. That's why one so often hears stories of government agencies madly spending whatever money remains unspent in their budgets to prove that they needed the money they were allocated that year and why they will need more money in the next. It's truly a vicious circle that won't be broken until we break the government and rebuild it from scratch.
One of the least painful ways of achieving this is to force every single government department into a Zero-based budgeting program, where they start each fiscal year having to budget for all their programs from scratch. That way, they would by necessity have to justify their budget requests and not be forced into these mad and largely useless spending sprees as they approach year-end. This would be one way to eliminate a lot of fat from government programs, as each and every year, every government department would have to justify its existence through rational budget requests.
The Mayans were a very advanced civilization in Central america, which was at its height at about 1,000 BC. Their calendar was extremely accurate, if not complex, and was based on 52-year cycles. Scholars say that at the end of each 52-year cycle the Mayans would throw out all their dishes and pots as it was assumed the world might end. I think it might be a good idea to emulate the Mayans, except instead of breaking our cookware, we should re-form our government to keep the costs in check.
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