What Conservatives Get Right (and Wrong!) About Government

The most basic conservative belief is that government should be minimized.  Government is viewed as wasteful, inefficient, bureaucratic, controlling, tyrannical and prone to corruption.  Reagan’s famous quote, ‘The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, I’m from the government and I’m here to help’, is the beloved expression of this antipathy toward government.

In some ways the fear of ever-expanding government is very American and understandable.  Who has not experienced the frustration of being mired in some government bureaucracy trying to get something simple accomplished?  The trope of the indifferent government official referring one to yet another department in an endless search for the ‘right’ person is familiar to all of us.

There are three major reasons why conservatives hate government.  The first is that they believe every task worth doing should be done as a part of the free market economy, thus providing an impetus to efficiency and productivity.  Without the discipline of the profit motive and competition, they say, government is doomed to be inefficient and ever-expanding.

The second reason is that government limits freedom and liberty.  It is a conservative axiom that government regulations, taxes and oversight are incursions on individuals and their businesses that hamper their creativity, progress and growth.

The third reason is that they believe passionately that government assistance, intercession, guaranteed wage levels and safety nets (the dreaded ‘entitlement’ programs) contribute to poverty, homelessness, unemployment and other societal ills by creating dependencies and an impediment to work for the less motivated members of our society.

I shall address each reason and try to be fair in evaluating their legitimacy.  Let us assume that most conservatives understand that there is a need for some government.  Only the extreme libertarians and anarchists argue for zero government.  The devil, as always, is in the details.

The first valid reason to minimize government is its inefficiency, its tendency to become bloated and its potential for corruption.  However, let us confess that these potential pitfalls are not just associated with government, but rather with every human enterprise of any size.  Even a typical for-profit company can fall prey to these ills.  There are many for-profit companies whose businesses are either monopolies or so profit-heavy that their growth is no longer linked to profit and loss, and their efficiency is suspect.  Lots of high-tech companies are in this category.  And the much-beloved voluntary philanthropic institutions and churches that conservatives say should substitute for government in helping the unfortunate are also operating without the discipline of competition or any curbs on growth or efficiency. 

Moreover, the temptations for corruption exist in every company or institution.  How many times have corporations been caught in bribery scandals, illegal tax avoidance, price fixing and other corrupt practices?

There is good reason to minimize government – conservatives have a valid concern.  But there are many functions in a society that are not practical or appropriate for a competitive marketplace.  Balancing the need for efficiency and minimal government with the need for societal projects and benefits that do not lend themselves to the free market is a challenge that requires careful analysis and bi-partisan negotiation, not scorched earth polemics.

In the end, the role that government plays must be acknowledged and affirmed by conservatives and liberals should concede the risks of it becoming bloated and inefficient.  There are ways to minimize inefficiency and entropy in government if only congress were willing to work in good faith to address it.

On the topic of regulations, a similar balance must be struck.  Human greed and power-wielding run rampant without some measure of oversight.  Environmental regulations, energy guidance toward a less carbon-oriented energy future, curbs on banking and lending excesses, investment fair play and tax-avoidance detection are all areas that must have some regulation to ensure that the unscrupulous are kept in check.

Conservatives are correct to worry about excessive regulation, as this can have a negative effect on businesses, entrepreneurship and overall economic growth.  Finding the right balance requires data-driven, sober analysis.  Casting one’s policy opponent as anti-business, socialist, racist, or anti-science is tempting for political soundbites, but in the end can only make the necessary cooperation more difficult.

The third conservative criticism of government - that entitlement programs, safety nets, and taxing the rich coddle the poor and encourage the very behaviors and problems they attempt to fix – is a toxic simplification of a complex issue.  Conservatives are certainly right that there are and will always be people who avoid hard work and take advantage of the good-hearted and generous.  No social program can completely eliminate the risk of subsidizing some portion of these ne’er-do-wells.

However, in the complex, mutually-dependent, post-industrial society that now defines most of the world, there is more risk than ever that people will find themselves in dire straits through no fault of their own.  My view on this topic is similar to the age-old argument for legal protections:  it is better that ten guilty people go unpunished than that one innocent goes to jail.

Work is a fundamental need for all human beings.  And any person who works should not have to suffer in poverty or see their prospects diminished over time.  The well-documented and extraordinary growth of income and wealth for the top 10% of the world cannot be justified.  The tired conservative maxim of the rising tide lifting all boats (aka trickle down economics) can no longer be supported by any reasonable person.  It is neither radical nor unreasonable to demand that the absurd fortunes of the super-rich be repurposed for the good of humanity in creating new infrastructure, better healthcare systems, expanded public transportation, low-cost childcare, universal education and job training, energy transformation and other important common societal needs. 

The conservatives are correct in being suspicious of government and its potential to grow unchecked and inefficient.  But they are wrong in casting it as a pariah and refusing to acknowledge its necessary role in an ever more complex society.  Both conservatives and liberals must abandon the tactics of puerile slander and hyperbole and roll up their sleeves to do the hard work of forging a better government that minimizes inefficiency and looks to the future.