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The author seems to blame the two-party system and the class divide between politicians and voters for the fact that nobody is shrinking the size of the governm

by sethg 17y ago

The author seems to blame the two-party system and the class divide between politicians and voters for the fact that nobody is shrinking the size of the government. I have a much simpler explanation for this phenomenon: no substantial body of voters want smaller government. The clique of libertarians who actually believe in "smaller government" and not simply "government taking less of my money in taxes and spending less on the things that I personally don't like" is substantial on the Web and among the intelligentsia, but not so much in the voting booth. Look at how poorly Ron Paul did in the Republican primaries.

dinkumthinkum 17y ago
I agree essentially with you but I don't think that's really why Ron Paul did so poorly. Ron Paul did poorly because he was always going to do poorly. He was kind of an older looking guy who said a lot of funny things and was kind of a curmudgeon. Most people don't even know what libertarianism is or that he was one. Then many people who know he was a member of the Libertarian party don't really know the difference between those people and your garden variety Republican. But you are right in that the majority of Americans aren't libertarians anyway. Most people (Republican, Democrat, "Independent," haha, whatever) actually do want the government to tell us what we can and can't put in our own bodies. Even the "Legalize Marijuana" people are somewhat hypocritical. They say "legalize pot, it's not as bad or heroin." Oddly enough, most Republicans (the old white guys) actually want social security, which you would think they would view as anathema communist propaganda. American politics are very strange.
tc 17y ago
Very few people want free markets. The rest just want the standard of living that only free markets can offer.
- MaysonL 17y ago
  And the few people who want free markets aren't willing to pay for them.
grandalf 17y ago
i have an even simpler explanation: most people think that increasing government size/scope will make their lives better. These are the same people of whom 40% believe Elvis is alive!

by sethg 17y ago

dinkumthinkum 17y ago

I agree essentially with you but I don't think that's really why Ron Paul did so poorly. Ron Paul did poorly because he was always going to do poorly. He was kind of an older looking guy who said a lot of funny things and was kind of a curmudgeon. Most people don't even know what libertarianism is or that he was one. Then many people who know he was a member of the Libertarian party don't really know the difference between those people and your garden variety Republican. But you are right in that the majority of Americans aren't libertarians anyway. Most people (Republican, Democrat, "Independent," haha, whatever) actually do want the government to tell us what we can and can't put in our own bodies. Even the "Legalize Marijuana" people are somewhat hypocritical. They say "legalize pot, it's not as bad or heroin." Oddly enough, most Republicans (the old white guys) actually want social security, which you would think they would view as anathema communist propaganda. American politics are very strange.

tc 17y ago

Very few people want free markets. The rest just want the standard of living that only free markets can offer.

MaysonL 17y ago
And the few people who want free markets aren't willing to pay for them.

grandalf 17y ago

i have an even simpler explanation: most people think that increasing government size/scope will make their lives better. These are the same people of whom 40% believe Elvis is alive!