Socialists And Statists
Movements Start Small #39
Surely, the most fundamental question in the history of politics is: how much should the government intervene in society?
Over the last century, progressive visions of government intervention have battled it out with more libertarian perspectives of limited involvement.
Well, in the last decade US politics has moved past this debate. While how to intervene remains a source of great debate, the primacy of government now has true bipartisan support.
Think we live in a free market, laissez faire country? The facts don’t support it.
The size and scope of government has exploded in the last 50 years (to roughly 45% of GDP). Neither party has slowed the trajectory and both seem fully on board to keep going. And it’s not just entitlements and the military. All areas have grown, including social welfare spending which has grown 2x faster than total spending since 1975. In the politics of today, each side simply advocates for more power, more control and more spending.
Given your loyalties, you might not want to admit it, but the truth is the left is pushing an increasingly socialist view of our future. And, yes, the right a statist one.
One looks at the EU’s bureaucratic hegemony with envy. The other sees China’s unlimited top down command and control as a powerful model.
One wants the government to wrest control of more and more services.The other wants to hand pick winners in the private sector to deliver the goods.
One protects NGOs and agencies from the accountability of market forces. The other protects incumbent businesses from the winds of competition.
One is guided by the north star of equality. The other by safety and order. They are both willing to sacrifice personal freedoms to get it.
One wants to remove “dangerous” speech. The other wants to restrict “subversive” speech.
They are both failing visions of our future - and we are paying the price.
This is the populist doom loop.
Each election cycle the promises get bigger (“free healthcare”, “no tax on tips”) all while the results inevitably disappoint - driving distrust, institutional rot and conspiracy thinking. After all the failures have to be someone’s fault: immigrants, China, Russia, Israel or the billionaires.
In this environment, politics becomes THE most important thing - to your business, your income, and your moral standing with neighbors. Government handouts are by definition zero sum and drive ruthless battles for the biggest pieces of the pie. And the winners of these gusher of funds join a growing class of staunch defenders against any real change. One man’s waste is another’s profit, after all. Corruption expands as favors increasingly determine the winners. Sound familiar?
Now depending on your allegiances you most likely only notice (or are bothered by) the pattern on the other side. Or view it as a false equivalence. But the trajectories are clear. On the left, open socialist platforms are expanding. The Bernie revolution now has offspring - Mamdani, AOC and Newsom all propose bigger and bigger programs despite facing massive budget holes. And, yes, the policies are creeping into the party mainstream. On the right, nationalist fervor drives open disdain for markets in favor of ever growing manipulation and crony capitalism - tariffs, industrial policy, and the targeted rule of law.
One says price controls on rent, the other on interest. One has Build Back Better, the other the Big Beautiful Bill. It’s all just a bundle of targeted gifts and distortions - just different beneficiaries with different side effects.
This dynamic cannot go on forever. The money will dry up. The frustration will reach a boil. The inevitable failures of central planning will show themselves en masse.
But in the meantime each failure leads to a doubling down. Throw the bums out, a new regime will fix it. A new program. The smart people will finally be in charge.
Don’t believe it. The promised Utopia is not around the corner. Building a prosperous society has always required a muddling through. The signs of healing will come only with a return to basics. We need leaders ready to tone down the promises, but actually deliver. The answer is a more humble agenda backed by real results that rebuild belief and faith in our most vital institutions.
And we need ideas more than just increased spending. Ideas that inevitably emerge from the bottom up - with everyday people in the real world allowed to experiment and try new things - eventually growing a bigger pie that benefits us all.
Good Links
Libertarians find little in common with a GOP lead by Trump. Reason at the NYT.
The Left simply can’t stop listening to their radical wing. How partisan NGOs run the show.
The great Arnold Kling makes the case for Humilitism. Common sense from an independent thinker.
Mississippi changed education with a few simply ideas - not money. Back to basics on reading.
“America has the people, the ideas, and the culture. We just can’t get the permits.” John Cochrane lays out the simple case against the vetocracy that keeps things from happening.
The good old days. Back when both sides agreed for a tiny moment: the era of big government is over.
"... everyday people in the real world allowed to experiment and try new things - eventually growing a bigger pie that benefits us all."
We agree. And suggest that a major reason why government has grown so big is because humans have become so unwell. To reclaim health, we everyday people will need to take better care of ourselves.... and build a more sovereign society where people live well locally. It will change culture, society, and politics from the ground up.