As Government Expands, Liberty Contracts

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I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.

Ronald Reagan
1989
Ronald Reagan at 110: Twenty of His Best Quotes on Freedom, Government, and America

I am certain there are millions of people in this country in need of the reminder. There are also millions of others who need their first lesson.

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9 thoughts on “As Government Expands, Liberty Contracts”

  1. Indeed!

    I frequently find myself quoting Gerald Ford: “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is also big enough to take away everything you have.”

    • Spot on Dan!
      “A government big enough to give you everything you want, probably already has taken away everything you have.”
      There, I fixed for Gerry.

    • That quote has always bothered me because there is an implied promise a subset will fall for. A government big enough to take everything you have to supposedly pay for giving you everything you want will never be able to even come close delivering on that promise. Leaving the whole liberty issue aside, there will always be scarce resources to allocate. The closest they can come is to redefine your wants and tell you that they have been satisfied. “You will own nothing and be happy” isn’t a prediction it’s a command, you might as well add “or else”.

  2. “I am certain there are millions of people in this country in need of the reminder. There are also millions of others who need their first lesson.”
    Yup. MAGA dittos.

  3. Point #1: R. Reagan: “As government expands, liberty contracts.” The inverse is also assumed true: As government contracts, liberty expands.

    Point #2: G. Ford: “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is also big enough to take away everything you have.” This inverse is also assumed true: A government too small and limited to give you everything you want, is also too small and limited to take away everything you have.

    Point #3: Trump, with the help of Elon Musk and a highly-agile team of auditors, is slashing the size and cost of the U.S. Government.

    And the Left is apoplectic about it, saying that they’re losing freedom under Trump.

    The logical conclusion I’m arriving at — and anyone else, feel free to weigh in — is that the American Left does not want freedom as we understand it. And not only do they not want it, they don’t want anyone else to have it, either.

    Ergo, they celebrate the expansion of the federal Leviathan — doubly so when it’s “their” Leviathan (which we all know is not really “theirs”; it’s just Polyphemus, promising to eat them last) — and wail and gnash teeth at its reduction.

    I predict at the end of Trump 2.0, they will have more freedom, less tax burden, and MUCH better data on the measurable outcomes of federal programs and expenditures, but they will nevertheless decry a perceived “loss of freedom” under “Literally Hitler” and be eager to bring back the Leviathan to reduce real freedom, take everything they have in taxes, and use it to pay off the richest of the elites around the world. Based on their actions, that’s the world they want to live in.

    • I thought of pointing out the inverses and hinting at the conclusiontm the resisters are anti-freedom, but I was short on time.

      Thank you for finishing the job on this topic.

    • Indeed, the left does not want freedom; that has been obvious since the days of Wilson and FDR. They want control.

      • Which is fine but that’s not what the USA is supposed to be about. Take that stuff elsewhere, please & thank you. As far as I’m concerned they can have the entire rest of the planet. Just not here.

  4. There are MILLIONS of people/voters in America for whom a reminder of this fact is pointless. They are mentally incapable of understanding this.

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