It's hard to believe in this day and age, but “Big Government” and constant handouts were not always an accepted norm. Check out this quote from none other than Grover Cleveland, a Democrat (!) when vetoing a drought aid bill to Texas farmers in 1887:
“I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and duty of the General Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that though the people support the Government the Government should not support the people.
“The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow-citizens in misfortune. This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated. Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood."
Wow.
It's a not so gentle reminder that our views on government's role in providing relief to individuals is a modern invention, traceable in great part to FDR's New Deal programs that were enacted before World War II. Before that event, government handouts were not only not expected, they were non-existent! And yet less than 90 years later, the role of government has shifted exponentially. Citizens expect support from the government from Birth to Death. It is a unrealistic expectation that our tax base cannot support long-term. And both parties are out fault. When President Ronald Reagan was elected we had a unique opportunity to right this wrong and greatly shrink the federal government. But even Reagan with all his gifts and talents found himself unable to reduce the size of our government, in fact it became even bigger during this time in office. There has been no serious candidates since that have espoused rethinking the role of our federal government and we will all pay the price for this omission. We are writing checks our children and grandchildren will find unbearable in the very near future.
But let's be clear, government cannot shape our will, we are responsible for this new expectation of the role of government in our private lives. We have moved from a nation based on individual charity and responsibility to a people craving handouts and concerned primarily with our own protection. And this shift is far from over. It doesn't take much of a prophet to see into a future where people demand to be coddled and provided for at any cost, and that is exactly the cost that will demanded. People dependent upon the government are people that have exchanged their rights for gifts and their responsibilities for charities.
God have mercy on the United States of America.
