This is the result of decades of anti-government propaganda from the conservatives. The US is a failed / faux democracy. People believe the US is supposed to f

This is the result of decades of anti-government propaganda from the conservatives. The US is a failed / faux democracy. People believe the US is supposed to function with certain democratic rules, one person one vote, etc., but it was designed specifically not to allow progress, not to allow democratic rule, to protect the minority (wealthy ruling class) from the majority (everyone else). Anyone can look that up, read about, etc., but it isn't the common perception for how democracy is supposed to function in the US. So, when people vote for politicians that promise one thing and do the opposite , eventually people lose faith in the system and reject government altogether. The solution to our problems isn't small government, it is education about the failings of our current institutions and massive democracy reforms. We don't even need to implement a single new idea, just promote and pursue democracy reforms that people have been pushing for over the last century. But we absolutely need to gut our current institutions (constitution, supreme court, congress, etc) and start fresh.