Small Government – Wise, Old Idea

Constitutional conservatives, like our Founding Fathers, work to keep government small. Do you know why? Because Government, or consolidated power, can be used against the individual. Small government means more rights, big government means less.

We are watching young voters vote for socialism. They plainly do not understand what they are voting for, since socialism and communism are movements led by those seeking limitless power to spend, tax, and coerce others to conform.

The power to tax is the power to make your life unlivable, forcing you to depend on the state. The power to coerce is the power to take away your liberty and your life. These are not partisan statements; they are well-documented, historical facts.

So, when we see kids voting for concentrated power, or the rise of one-party socialism – in places like Maine and New York City – you are watching abuse in the making, overspending, overtaxing, overregulation, and coercion coming.

What many do not realize is that constitutional conservatives are the lone bulwark against this kind of overspending, overtaxing, and coercion, the bulwark against tyranny, not of some ancient or philosophical type, but in our day-to-day lives.

What is tyranny? And why should young people – as well as older people – genuinely fear it, gather to fight it, and not permit it to become a way of life?

Tyranny – a big word for loss of rights – is about justifying, whether by redefining language, deceit and misrepresentation, election falsification, or force, the theft of individual rights and handing that power to Government, as if it were God.

In older societies, God was used to justify tyranny, monarchies, and theocracies, presenting the favored tyrant as part of God’s will. These days, socialists and communists skip that step. They deny God and assume to themselves God’s status.

They effectively turn Government into God, demanding with their power that all citizens – or all ruled – abide by the dictates or mandates of Government, enforcing their will on the people with deception, ever higher taxes, and targeted coercion.

Here is where knowing history matters. At no time in history has power concentration ever ended well. Whether in early Egypt, Greece, Rome, or later Europe, including Nazi and Soviet times, concentrated power is never good.

Nor has it been good when concentrated at the state or provincial level – when one-party government swells, grows arrogant, demands, and coerces. Without exception, abuse expands. Incompetence replaces competition for quality. Corruption grows until the system becomes intolerable, is overthrown, outvoted, or collapses.

Some of the wisest minds are post-Nazi and post-Soviet writers, and those resisting tyranny in our Revolutionary era. Good reads include Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” John Locke’s “Second Treatise,” and our own “Federalist Papers.”

But these truths go back further. One of the earliest writers about liberty, how it dovetails with less government – not more government –was the famous Chinese philosopher of peace, Lao Tzu.

A writer who lived a hundred years before Sun Tzu and six hundred years before Christ, Lao Tzu wrote about human nature and governments, good and bad.

About human nature, he noted: “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” This is perhaps why those much-loved and loving others fight well; they know what they fight for. 

He cautioned: “Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”

On the political front, he was no less wise, saying the “best fighter” in all venues “is never angry,” and that often “those who know do not speak… those who speak do not know.”

Quick to observe opposites, he wrote, “The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.” He guided political actors and everyday people to live in the present. “If you are depressed, you are living in the past…anxious, you are living in the future…If you are at peace, you are living in the present.

He felt harmony came from less government, defaulting to simplicity, patience, and compassion. He said over-governing produced terrified submission or violent rebellion. Limited government was best.

Specifically, he wrote: “The more restrictions and prohibitions, the poorer the people become…” and “when the people are starving, it is because their rulers consume too much in taxes,” undermining human harmony and social stability.

Interestingly, young people who favor socialism or communism do not understand these timeless truths. Socialism and communism are by nature oppressive, insatiable, coercive, bankrupting, and violent. They should re-read our Founding Fathers and philosophers like Lao Tzu. Some things never change: Human nature is one, and the importance of assuring government stays small is another.

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!