Originally Posted by Senator Hatrack
As Thomas Paine said "Government is a necessary evil" and as such should be as small as possible.
The necessity of government changes with circumstances. Paine had the option of moving out of the reach of government. He could move to the Indian lands and take his chances. As settlers moved west, they often saw a need for MORE government to protect them from Indians.

Consider for a moment the settling of the West. Here we have a case where people settled a land with No government whatsoever. These people lived in an idyllic world... NO GOVERNMENT. And yet they voted to become part of the united states. They voted to have government imposed upon them.

I observe that there are examples countries with large government... where the people are happy and prosperous.

There are also examples of countries with minimal (or at least less) government... where people are less prosperous and happy.

IMO the evil of the government is not directly proportional to it's size.

"It's not a lie if you believe it." -- George Costanza
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. --Bertrand Russel