Keeping Government Limited, Close, and Small Keeps Us Free

The Founders organized a government that was limited—controlled so it remained orderly, close to the people so they could supervise it, and small, so it could not overwhelm those it served. The focal point of their system was strong state governments that directed affairs in their own areas. The federal government erected a very limited umbrella of federal policies and responsibilities that prevented foreign interference and facilitated state unity. States set their own standards of excellence in areas such as education.

Do Americans know this? Many errantly believe that federal programs, standards, and control are the ideal. It does seem logical—having the whole country doing the same thing should mean less confusion and duplication. We could set high national standards and bring in national leaders to create high caliber programs, right? Surely at the federal level they know what is best!

Oh, the innocence of such beliefs! Sadly, human nature prevails at every level of government. The power and wealth of national politics attract avarice, and avarice destroys freedom. Sometimes those in office begin as people of integrity and selfless dedication, but power and wealth “do their thing” over time. The scandals that regularly emerge from Washington D.C prove that honesty and integrity are absent at the federal level. We should not be surprised. History proves that, like a bad virus, authority “infects” those on whom it rests.

Thomas Jefferson spoke of the “chains of the Constitution”—its checks and balances—“binding men down from mischief”. That was the beauty of the Constitution. It divided power so none could abuse it. The responsibility of the common man was to supervise those in office to require integrity.

A case in point is our educational system. Under the Founding Fathers there was no free public education. (There is still no free education—high taxes support it.) Local schools were organized and operated by communities and churches and taught the curriculum they dictated, with states supervising the process. Some areas set low educational benchmarks, but many thrived on high academic standards. Competition encouraged excellence.

Was locally administered schooling “provincial”—outdated by today’s sophisticated standards? Hardly! Graduates of yesteryear far outpace the academic levels of today’s students. Keep a dictionary close when you read the extensive vocabulary and complex sentence structure of ordinary students two centuries ago! Scholars produced by locally run schools founded the greatest system of government in the modern world. Local control of education typically provided exceptional educational achievements.

Today’s federally mandated and funded school programs operate with a hidden trap: teaching to the lowest common denominator, lest they discriminate. Rather than national programs encouraging high standards, the opposite has happened—federal money is tied to low standards. Common Core is a good example of federal programs which lower student achievement requirements. Teachers, busy with record-keeping and hampered by administrators fearful of jeopardizing federal subsidies, teach what the current federal program requires. Academic standards have fallen dramatically in the last century of America’s history.

There is a reason for keeping government limited, small, and close to the people. Human nature dictates that most people, when given power, will misuse it. Not at first, perhaps, but ultimately temptation overwhelms almost everyone.  Keeping government limited, small, and close allows us to supervise, redirect, and police the system. Better efforts, in education and elsewhere, are the result.

- Pam