CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Economist Thomas Sowell harkened back to a time when the only contact the typical American had with their government was when the mailman came to their doorstep. Of course, those days are long gone.
There are many of us, including me, who prefer a distant relationship with our government. I try to avoid contact with the government like I try to avoid people with the flu. And my side is losing.
Government contact with its citizens, which should really be thought of as government supervision, is at an all time high. And it’s welcomed by some, who, I assume, wish to be less free. Daycare, banking, road construction, food assistance, farm policy, health care, are just some areas where the weeds of government have grown thick.
You know how this starts. The federal government offered every school district around the county money to help run their cafeterias. The National School Lunch Act was signed by President Harry Truman in 1946. Who could possibly be opposed to hungry children? That is the tentacle into our schools that gives the government the power to set policy for everything, like being more lenient towards minority students who get detention or get expelled, to trans athletes competing in sports. Disobedient school districts wouldn’t want to lose their school cafeteria money.
During government shutdowns we’re told how helpless we are. National parks are closed. Why? Because we’re too incompetent to go camping on our own. Most of us know not to feed the buffalo.
If a government shutdown impacts you, this is a great time to examine your relationship with the government. For everything that you are dependent on the government for, you are that much less free. If you can shrug your shoulders and say “Oh really, the government is shut down? I hardly noticed…” that’s where you want to be.
Chris Conley
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