Reagan claimed that America was being run by a “big liberal government” that did not have the values of the voter. That is wrong. If America had been run by a “big liberal government” – and if “big liberal government” was evil – then Reagan would have never been allowed to become president. He would have gotten shot. That he became president shows either that “big liberal government” did not run America, or that “big liberal government” was so good that it would even let into power its mortal enemy.
I want to see the government people vindicated. Many of them came from right considerations. They responded to John Kennedy’s call for civil service. They asked not what their country could do for them but what they could do for their country. It is completely wrong to see these people as evil or parasitical.
Is the government evil or parasitical? Government includes the military. Government includes the police. Government includes roads. Government includes schools and funding for scientific research. Both the voter and his life, liberty and prosperity owe a lot to the government.
So we have for example people denigrating the social workers. In fact the social workers perform a service to the taxpayer. It costs a lot less money to hire a social worker to check people’s criminal tendencies than it does to lock them up. They are good for the taxpayer; they are also good for the voter.
Are there bad people in the government? Of course there are. But to claim that the entire government is evil or parasitical is ridiculous. I take issue with people being demonized. I also take issue with ingratitude. And here we see both of the above.
So no, the government people aren’t scum. Many of them do legitimate work that benefits the voter. That being understood, it then becomes possible to see who both in the government and outside of the government does legitimate work and work with them.