Big Government vs. Small Government

This is one of the classic debates between the two camps, so lets look into it...

Right Wing

Big government is bad! As it gets bigger taxes go up to pay for it, bureaucratic red tape makes it slower and less efficient, and it intrudes in peoples lives.

Left Wing

The government should take care of its people.

Center

As with most things either extreme goes too far. The government is supposed to protect the country and its people from foreign attack, both sides agree there. But what abut other things?

• Police, fire departments add to the size of government and increase taxes but if no one did it we would have anarchy. Also privatized services cost more money to run because they want to make a profit and may choose to only cover those who can afford them. We actually used to have that setup in the USA but it turns out fires spread and if not controlled quickly they spread out of control.
• Corporate takeover is a risk from not just US based companies but foreign ones as well. In fact most corporations are owned in whole or in part by foreign entities. Without government oversight companies could seize your home, charge you anything they wanted, force competitors out of business, and trample all over citizens rights and freedoms. So clearly we need some government controls, the real question is how much is too much.  That is a topic for another post.
• Public Education is another thing to look at. We used to have private education but the trouble is uneducated people find a hard time getting good work and are more likely to resort to criminal activities. Also with a poorly educated population we have to import skilled workers from other countries or ship skilled jobs overseas. This weakens our country and makes it more vulnerable to foreign control so an educated population is in the countries national security interests.
• Infrastructure is something the government can do well, though its subject to corruption. We need roads and airports to connect us and do we really want all roads to be toll roads?

Summary

The size of government and what it does is a good topic for debate, clearly we need some but not too much. Those who think government can solve everything are mistaken, some things are in fact done better by private entities motivated by profit and greed over patriotism. However some things that profit over patriotism gets in the way and is counter to the good of the country. Remember in modern America big business is beholden to its stock holders and they may or may not be Americans. By definition we cant reasonably expect them to be patriotic and loyal to our country, especially over making a profit.