Blithely ignoring anything good about government, conservatives have conducted a relentless smear campaign against this institution, portraying it as wasteful, ineffective, corrupt, oppressive, and bad for business.  And wherever they have been in power, Republican officials have pursued an anti-government agenda of slashing taxes, cutting social programs, and rolling back regulations. “Smaller government” has been the conservative mantra – except of course for the ever-growing expenditures for defense and national security.

This is a response to this one-sided, distorted, and misleading depiction of government.  It makes the case government – despite its flaws – plays a valuable and indispensable role in promoting the public good.  Most government programs are working well and are actually improving the lives of all Americans in innumerable ways.

This will show government is not the problem; it is actually the only solution to most of the pressing problems we face as a nation – including infrastructure decay, record unemployment, global warming, and a spiraling health care costs.

If we want an America that is prosperous, healthy, secure, well-educated, just, compassionate, and unpolluted, we need a strong, active, and well-funded public sector.

The election of President Obama seemed to suggest this more positive – and more realistic – view of government was beginning to gain more traction among parts of the public.  For one thing, the mortgage system collapse and the ensuing deep financial crisis gave many Americans a renewed appreciation of the importance of government and the vital roles it plays in our society. It became clear this economic meltdown was caused in large part by conservative-led cutbacks in government regulation of financial markets, and re-regulation of the financial sector was essential to avoid such problems in the future.

Many economists also praised the quick and vigorous financial rescue efforts of the government that saved millions of jobs and prevented us from slipping into a devastating economic depression.

It is now evident a more energetic government is necessary in a whole range of areas in our society, not just in the financial sector.

The anti-government philosophy of deregulation has not only proved a disaster for the financial system, but also for food safety, energy policy, and environmental protection. And cutting back taxes has led to school budgets being slashed, public safety workers being laid off, poor children being denied medical care, and bridges and roads falling into dangerous disrepair.

Unfortunately, however, the Obama presidency also triggered a renewed attack on government by conservatives and libertarians.  The anti-government invective has now reached near hysterical levels. Popular Fox News commentator Glenn Beck has fanned the flames of paranoia about government by accusing the president of being a fascist and warning we are headed towards a “totalitarian state” – while videos of Nazi marches played behind him.

And many conservative politicians are now engaged in anti-government “red baiting.” They labeled the effort to pass universal health care as “communist” “Marxist” and “socialist” – even though similar programs have been in effect for decades in every other advanced capitalist country in the world. 

And of course the emergence of the Tea Party has demonstrated government bashing and tax hating is still popular among some Americans.

Significantly, the return of Republicans to power in the House of Representatives in 2010 was aided by a multi-million dollar ad blitz that portrayed government as completely irresponsible and taxes as intolerable.  The irrational fear of government reached new heights in these congressional campaigns when several Tea Party candidates warned the federal government had become so dictatorial and oppressive an armed rebellion was not out of the question.

This section takes on this anti-government movement and seeks to set the record straight about this institution.  It challenges many of the common right-wing criticisms of government – it is massively inefficient, taxes are too high, more government means less liberty, government is the enemy of economic prosperity, and so on. An objective examination of the actual record of government reveals these charges are highly exaggerated, misleading, or simply wrong.

This is not to deny American government has its problems. There are incidents of waste, some regulations are poorly designed, and some politicians abuse their power. More importantly, our government is certainly not as democratic and accountable as it could be, money plays too big a role in politics, and special interests have way too much political power.

Such problems need to be fixed, and this section identifies several needed reforms. Nonetheless, whatever drawbacks this institution has right now are far outweighed by the enormous benefits we all enjoy from a vast array of public sector programs. On the whole, government is good for us.

In fact, democratic government is one of the greatest institutional inventions of modern Western civilization. It allows us to pool our resources and to act collectively to address the serious social, economic, and environmental problems we are unable to deal with as individuals.

The public sector is also how we provide for essential human needs that are neglected by the market – such as clean air and water, safe workplaces, and economic security. What’s more, government serves as an essential instrument of moral action – a way for us to rectify injustices, eliminate suffering, and care for each other. In short, democratic government is one of the main ways we work together to pursue the common good and make the world a better place.