A few weeks ago, I proposed that the question of big government vs. little government was the wrong question to ask about any aspect of government. What's the right question? I think there are several. One is SMART government vs. STUPID government.
I will address an area that I have a little expertise in, and that's battered women. Experts estimate that about 25% of American women will be abused at some time in their lives. From my experience, I think that estimate is way too low. It's an epidemic. When children are raised in that kind of environment, it teaches that violence is the way to get what you want, and perpetrates the problem to the next generation. It keeps the jails full and the emergency rooms too busy.
Battered women's shelters are terribly underfunded, which is nothing but stupid. A small additional investment in more shelters will save much, much more money in the future. Putting people in jail is very expensive. But most states are too damn short sighted to act on these facts. Even if we care nothing for the lives of the women, the best way to get the kids out is to get Mom out. If the kids are out, the boys won't learn that hitting is the way to go, and the girls won't learn that love = pain. The next generation will have less of this, and hopefully, this will start a downward trend. I have not read any stats on this, but I believe it will reduce illegal drug use, too, as people use drugs to escape a bad reality and an inner pain. But, the money savings will take several years to materialize, and most state legislators can't see beyond the end of their nose.
I most strenuously disagree with your basic premise.
ReplyDeleteThere is no such thing as smart government. Indeed, such a thing cannot exist. The final phrase in your post bears this out. Government, by its very nature, is necessarily stupid.
That, in my view, is the biggest difference between progressives and conservatives. Progressives believe that all problems can be solved through more government (in spite of the observation that it hasn't worked, anywhere, anytime that it's been tried). Conservatives (like the Founding Fathers) know that central government is a necessary evil and must be sharply limited in scope and influence.
The problem of battered women (and the vastly unreported issue of battered men) is a serious one. It would be good to solve that problem. But more government won't do it. And I would bet that church-sponsored shelters have a much higher success rate than state-sponsored ones.