I see that in the wake of their party conference, the UK Conservative party is talking about small government. Well, it’s about time! We’ve seen the effects of big top heavy government in the UK for a few years now, and it’s been a complete drain on the country.
Lao Tzu warns us specifically about this, Taoists don’t go for meddlesome Big Government, the flaws are too obvious and if we’re being honest about it the long march over time towards intrusive and overbearing big institutions is going to bury us if we’re not careful.
We have the sight in the UK, of government quangos, full of bureaucrats beefing up the ranks of the middle managers, increasing the number of highly paid Chiefs. Yet the people providing the services are the first to feel the cull.
I saw the news today about the introduction of body scanners at Manchester Airport, the first airport in the UK to have them. Not satisfied with no end of personal data, we now have to face the prospect of being electronically undressed before going on a plane. It is optional, for now, but for how long? This is how they do it, draw the line somewhere that nobody would argue too much, then push it to where you REALLY want it, arguing continuity all the way.
It’s time to get smaller. Why do we need a huge bureaucracy? It seems to me that the work of big government is to an extent self generating busy work, we could lose quite a few management postitions and some very much overpaid executives and be no worse off. We need to honestly ask if some of the things that our government does are even needed. As Lao Tzu correctly spotted all those years ago, big government is not good government.
Peter Clothier says:
Maybe a spell in the US would modify your position a wee bit! Over here, the fear of “big government” has succeeded in paralyzing progress even on so basic a necessity as a reasonable health insurance plan for our citizens. It enabled the “Reagan Revolution” that led to economic disaster that affected the entire world. It’s the byword of yahoos like Rush Limbaugh and populists like Sarah Palin. Somewhere there must be a balance, no?
14 October 2009, 11:50 pmRichard says:
You make a good point, I think we’re in situations that are at different ends of the spectrum. The UK is starting to resemble a police state on some days and a nanny state on others.
I agree with you, we need balance, but I still think that the UK has far too much interference and (crucially) often in what I perceive as the wrong areas. I will admit to being a little unable to believe that the opponents of the healthcare plan are getting away with the level of argument they’re managing without being shouted down from all sides. Basic free healthcare for all is a wonderful thing, and I speak as somebody who wouldn’t even have survived his birth without the NHS.
15 October 2009, 6:13 pm