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My distaste for government in its current bloated form (a State as opposed to a government) should be apparent. Recently, I have characterized our government as a “cornered and wounded animal,” willing to do anything to survive what appears to be an increasingly impossible mess. Some may justify any kind of behavior under survival conditions as acceptable (the ends justifies the means). While I believe that such a defense cannot be sustained, especially where current conditions arose as a result of multi-decades of foolish governmental policy, that issue is a philosophical one beyond the intent of this post.
The Founding Fathers were less than sanguine regarding the potential evils of government. James Madison warned: “All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.” Also, he stated: “An elective despotism was not the government we fought for; but one in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among the several bodies of magistracy as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being effectually checked and restrained by the others.” Jefferson was at least as adamant as Madison regarding needs to constrain government as were most of the other Founding Fathers. Their design was to prevent the massive accumulation of central power that has occurred. The size of government, relative to GDP, would be incredible to most of them.
Albert J. Nock
The deterioration occurred long before today, although recent events have accelerated it to the point where one questions whether
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