Why Republicans want small government.

[Kablooie]

I heard Gail Collins talking about her book "As Texas Goes…" on KPCC, a local public radio station. She said something about the difference between Republicans and Democrats that made sense to me. The division politically is between the people from the empty places and the people from the crowded places.

If you live in a crowded place you can see every single day how useful government is. Picking up garbage, cleaning streets, it protects you from burglars it keeps dogs from pooping on the sidewalks. It does all these things that you want done so you appreciate government.

If you live in an empty place it's not so clear. It's true that government subsidizes postal service in your area but it doesn't seem to be notable on a day to day basis. If a burglar breaks in you're going to shoot him yourself. A dog can poop anywhere he wants, there's plenty of room. There's not that sense of government being anything except a pain in the neck.

It used to be a division based on reality. It's people having legitimate reactions to their own life experiences. This would explain how rural Republican could want small government but were still generous and helpful to their neighbors. They don't feel a close connection with urban dwellers like they do with local neighbors.

To this I would also add the category of people whose lives are founded on greed. They are the money managers that live in crowded urban areas but want small government so they will have freedom to grab more wealth for themselves. These people have no qualms about hurting others to satisfy their greed. They are the parasites that have the money and power to infect everyone else on the right with their self centered agenda.

Collins explained that the divisions have become more of a mental thing in recent years and the physical distinctions have broken down. Some people in California live out in the wilds and still feel connected to the rest of the world. People packed in Florida condos insist they live by their own means and want government out of their lives.

I wouldn't consider the rural right as inherently evil. Their priorities are different from urban dwellers as a result of their own life experiences. The money worshippers are different. Their life philosophy is a mean, dishonorable thing and they have infused this immorality all through the right wing to the point where life experiences are immaterial. It has become a brainwashed philosophy that does not support rural Americans anymore but only packs the pockets of the obscenely wealthy.

[rhett o rick]

1. They do not want a "small government". They want to shrink SS while increasing defense spending.

Look at the Bush years. Did the government shrink or grow? Some hints, Patriot Act, domestic spying, wars, Der Homelund Security, Medicare Part D.

[pasto76]

2. The root of it is smaler government means more power for corporations. Period

they've been very successful at suckering all right wingers to believe this. Not about open spaces, population density or anything else. "smaller government" means I can dump truckloads of toxins into the drinking water and not be punished.

[ghostcommander]

3. Smaller government or no government.

The traditional Republican party of Eisenhower, Rockefeller, Dirksen, Hatfield, Goldwater, Ford and some others is dead. Those that wear the republican label now are Fascists-totalitarian, corrupt and incompetent that have adopted Hitler and Goebbels Big Lie--tell lies, even preposterous lies and repeat them over and over to convince, fool and brainwash American Citizens.

Under the Fascist Criminal Enterprise of covert president cheney and his puppet 'duh' bush there was a marriage between them and the Corporate Fascists in the Housing and Financial sector, the military contractors, and numerous other crony contractors, with little or no regulation that led to Great Depression II.

They have cut taxes so low for the rich and very rich that the government has to borrow money from the corrupt corporate Fascists.

The smaller the government becomes, the less functional it becomes and these Fascists will say "See, I told You so." Eventually there will be the equivalent of Hitler's enabling act and the Fascist republicans will have sole control of "We the People's" Government.

Be afraid, very afraid and do everything you can to resist their chains, form groups and spread the Truth, form larger groups to defend yourselves, and never concede an inch of Democracy.

Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of "We the People's" Democracy.

[bonniebgood]

4. Please tell me where Government subsidize

the Postal Service? If the government is smaller someone will fill the void.
that would be the corporations. No regulation, no representation. All the oceans and rivers will
look like the gulf. who wants that? no, not even the teakochsuckers.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. this is not fucking difficult to understand.

They want small government so they can take it over and cheat and redistribute the resources to their cronies.

This is not difficult to understand.

[FarLeftFist]

6. Republicans want small Govt for the same reason crooks want less cops.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Not the first person to notice this

I have, covering my local back country...

And the author is very much correct in some respects

[bptr]

8. "smaller government" is a complete LIE

Republican leaders are basically con artists. Luckily, they aren't very bright ones. They exploit the dumb people in this country and know that they will simply repeat whatever they tell them - "smaller government" "smaller government""smaller government""smaller government""smaller government""smaller government""smaller government""smaller government"
"Socialism" "Socialism" "Socialism" "Socialism" "Socialism" "Socialism" "Socialism" "Socialism" ,etc
- all without having any clue what it means.

The Republican leaders apparently have little meetings each week to tell them what to do and say because every single week, they come out all saying and doing the exact same stupid things together.

The dumb Republican voters of this country can never see the sheer hypocrisy and ridiculousness of their venal leaders. The Republican leaders easily rile up the idiots so that they can get away with their real agenda which is protecting Profiteers who want zero government regulations for corporations so that they can scam the middle-class for profits, while squeezing them dry with 'corporate profits fees', stagnant wages, poisoning the populations with chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, and genetically-modified foods - all while making soaring trillions in profits and ruining our environment in the process.

The Republicans want TRILLIONS for government-run false wars, giant walls at the border, completely draconian laws supported by lunatic Reactionaries (life sentence for a DUI - just trying to get home from a perfectly legal bar, etc). spying on citizens with fascist laws like The Patriot Act, dictating morality, and generally limiting Freedom (the exact opposite of the purpose of laws).

Basically, REPUBLICANS ARE MORONS, AND THIS WHOLE "SMALL GOVERNMENT CRAP" IS COMPLETE BULLSHIT WHICH ONLY DUMB PEOPLE BELIEVE.

[gopiscrap]

9. Welcome to DU

[Kablooie]

10. You're right, particularly when you look at things today.

Today's right wing views are not based on any kind of philosophy or life experience.
They simply parrot phrases they are told to repeat.
Thinking has vanished and blind, robotic, zombie-ism has taken it's place.

I think the writer was talking about the origins of the anti-government views which could have emerged from different life experiences.
Those views have unquestionably mutated into a dangerous lemming kind of insanity that has no meaningful goals or values anymore.