Is Shrinking The Government A Lost Cause?

The modern expansion of the federal government has been proceeding in fits and starts, since the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930’s. Some presidents—and it has nearly always taken presidential action to successfully resist the encroachment of government—have been more successful at slowing the growth of government than others. But it seems as if none, in the eighty years since Roosevelt took office, have been able to reverse this expansion. Ronald Reagan was a particularly successful conservative president, but even he on managed to slow the tide. The Department of Education, newly formed under Jimmy Carter, survives to this day. In recent years, conservatives hoped that unified Republican control of government would bring a full repeal of Obamacare, marking the first time in American history that an entitlement program had been successfully rolled back after its enactment. But now, even a partial repeal faces an uphill battle in Congress.

It’s enough to make any conservative give up on politics in anger and despair. It’s a depressing thought, that even though we can still win some isolated victories at the state and federal level, the march of liberal ideas could inexorably continue through Congress and the general public. But there are a couple of positive thoughts that should be remembered, as well.

First, fighting to reduce the size of government is simply the right thing to do. It helps to ensure the security and freedom of all American citizens, both present and future. On that basis alone, the fight should never be abandoned, because the stakes are too great.

And second, if the past few years have taught us anything, it is that no one can possibly imagine what the future will bring. Today’s setbacks become tomorrow’s opportunities, and there is no single “arc of history” bending toward a predetermined endpoint, as much as Barack Obama would like us to believe otherwise. The odds of a large-scale rolling back of the federal government, and restoration of the Constitution, may seem bleak at times, but neither success nor defeat is ever guaranteed. It is up to conservatives to make sure that no chance at liberty is ever wasted, and remember that no victory, however small, is worthless.