I started my professional life working in city government, before I even graduated from high school, actually. Brunswick, Ohio had a "cable TV" office, which televised city council meetings and produced public affairs programming. It only had one full-time guy at the time, but I worked for him for years on a part-time basis. Eventually, I became his peer working the same job in the next town over (for a lot less money, I should add). That experience, which included working with the local school districts and county, really helped me appreciate what local government could do, how those local tax dollars were used. It always bothered me that people were so hostile toward the local government units when they asked for money to fund necessary things, which was always followed by complaints about not having the things (roads, schools, etc.), as if they did not understand the cause and effect.
While government scrutiny is an absolutely necessary part of the system, mistrust of it is not. Unfortunately, former President Ronald Reagan planted the seeds for mistrust that have had effects that he probably did not intend. He famously said that he was weary of anyone who said, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help." Putting aside for a moment the fact that he was the government, the implication that he was making is that government is somehow the bad guy that will take your money and get in your way. That sentiment has persisted to the point where now a bunch of corrupt and morally bankrupt people are trying to gut the government and claiming that it's wasteful, without evidence, and even firing the people who were there to call out the waste.
I'll be the first to tell you that government is not without waste. I generally don't even agree with its priorities. But regardless of tax or debt implications, I understand that it is necessary, and it does deliver value. The amount spent on defense is absurd, relative to the rest of the budget, but we can't not have it. There are a ton of different things that may not deliver obvious value, but if you ask experts about those, you'll learn why they're necessary.
For example, foreign aid, which seems to be a hot topic now, brings stability to other parts of the world. How does that benefit the US? Well, stability means less illegal drug production, less migration forced by famine and climate change, better health outcomes and less disease certainly keep pathogens away, etc. We don't have a great track record on fostering democracy, but stable nations also don't attack allies.
And of course, it should be well understood that investing in ourselves, in education and science, yields a ton of benefit relative to the cost. The Covid pandemic could have been even worse were it not for those government investments. Raising smarter kids and funding research puts us at an advantage relative to nations who are not our allies.
We need to stop pretending that government is the bad guy. That, and if we're going to be skeptical of anything, it should be people who believe that their leadership in government is the answer. It can't be the bad guy and the good guy.
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