Why Limit Government?
by Marty Lewinter
The most important (and radically new) feature of the American government established by the Founding Fathers is limited government. Simply put, the people retain the freedom to act, except for those acts, such as murder, specifically outlawed by the government. The government, on the other hand, may only act in accordance with its mandate—to secure the rights of its citizens: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If you disagree, please read the Declaration of Independence.
The newly born American nation was a product of the Enlightenment (also known as The Age of Reason)—the intellectual movement in eighteenth century Europe during which reason and freedom triumphed over superstition, dogma, and the divine right of kings. The Founding Fathers, having successfully defeated the British Crown, used Enlightenment principles to frame a government which would reflect freedom, justice, reason, separation of church and state, balance of powers, and other values. In securing the rights of the people, great care was taken to limit government power. The Founding Fathers have been repeatedly insulted by deconstructionist nonsense such as, "These men merely reflected their economic interests. Their 'noble words' were attempts to sell their ambitious dreams to the people." This is patently false. The Founding Fathers risked everything to oust the tyrants from the colonies. They correctly saw government as a potential threat to humans. Their answer: Limited Government—noninterference with the natural rights of man.
Rights are negative in nature. My right to free speech does not override your rights. I cannot force you to print my article in your newspaper. The government is here to prevent anyone from interfering with my right of free speech. Similarly, I have a right to apply for a job with your company. I do not have a right to that job! I cannot, and the government cannot, force you to hire me. The same holds true for medical care, food, clothing, etc. I have a right to look for these things, but I cannot force you to provide them. We can't safeguard Peter's rights by stepping on Paul's. There is only one way to safeguard rights: limit the power of the state—that is, limit the power of the group over the individual. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness apply to individuals, not to groups. A group of people have liberty if and only if each individual in the group has liberty. Same with life. Ten living people do not comprise a "living" thing. The group is merely an aggregate of ten living individuals.
Welfare, for example, has no place in a limited government. This program violates the rights of some (taxpayers) in order to give money to others—something they are not entitled to. On the other hand, the proper function of government is the protection of its citizens from coercion by others. We require police and armed forces to protect us from domestic and foreign enemies. A limited government uses force only against the initiators of force (or fraud)—murderers, thieves, rapists, and foreign nations preparing to harm us. The rule by which governments should operate is simple. It must tell its citizens: "play nice," and then it must make sure they do just that. It is not here to provide cradle-to-grave care. This is incompatible with human rights and their corollary, limited government. Social programs violate property rights. Censorship violates the right of free speech. Regulation of victimless "crimes" violates freedom. Gun control violates the natural right of self-defense and only manages to take guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens.
Defend freedom—advocate limited government. Without it, we become our ownworst enemy.
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