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Part 3: Fixing our bloated federal government and the administrative state is going to take decades

The lion now is roaring, quite loudly
The lion now is roaring, quite loudly.
Photo by Travis Jervey.

In part 1 of this series I described how it appears the American public today is no longer asleep and is instead very aggressively participating in the political and cultural debate in ways it has not in many decades, noting how this shift suggests we are experiencing a much more fundamental societal change than a mere shift in voting demographics.

In part 2 of this series I described how this fundamental shift has begun to express itself within the courts and politics in ways unheard of only five years ago. This expression illustrates the bottom-up nature of America, whereby the citizen is sovereign and our so-called leaders can only resist what those citizens want for only so long. And when those citizens become energized, as they now are, that resistance will evaporate with amazing speed.

In part 3 today I am going to take a more pessimistic view, based not on recent events but on the longer view I take naturally as a historian. I do this all the time in my histories. In Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, in describing the political background behind that mission, I could not help noting how that mission changed America and its social goals significantly, for both good and ill. In Leaving Earth, I opened the book like so:

Societies change. Though humans have difficulty perceiving this fact during their lifetimes, the tide of change inexorably rolls forward, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

I then documented in detail the space efforts by both Russia and the United States in the decades after the Apollo landing and the politics behind those programs, with both providing a great window into how both societies changed in the second half of the 20th century. As I concluded, “They were like ships passing in the night.”

Similarly, the major cultural and political shift away from big government and the regulatory state that I think we are now experiencing in the United States is not going to change our country overnight. These things take time. People who firmly believe it is a good idea to “gender affirm” confused little kids by cutting off their breasts or castrating them are not going to change their minds easily. People who believe in big government — especially those who benefit from it — are not going to meekly allow that big government and those benefits to vanish without a fight.

The left’s long march through the institutions

From a historical perspective we merely need to look back as the left’s own century-long campaign to fundamentally transform the United States. The idea that government social programs were a good idea was firmly resisted by Americans for decades. Even after many years of effort, beginning aggressively during the Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson administrations in the early years of the 20th century, it was only with Franklin Roosevelt in the middle of that century that a limited number of federal social programs were finally introduced. Americans simply did not like the idea of giving the federal government a lot of power. Nor did they like the idea of increasing the “government dole,” as they would describe contemptuously such aid at that time.

Johnson signing the Equal Opportunity Act in 1964
Johnson signing the Equal Opportunity Act in 1964.
Click for original image.

It wasn’t until Lyndon Johnson and the post-1964 Democratic Party landslide that the left was finally able to pass its “Great Society” social program, creating numerous new government agencies designed to pass out government aid across a wide swath of the American landscape. That program was further strengthened after the post-Nixon Democratic Party landslide in 1974, leading to the very leftist Carter administration and its many very radical but now very influential federal programs.

Even then, these programs were still designed to work within the framework of the American model of capitalism and freedom that also centered sovereignty not on the government but on the citizen.

What had changed however was that the public no longer questioned the concept of using the government to cure society’s ills. In fact, from the mid-20th century on, if you dared question that idea you were routinely considered a wild-eyed extremist whose ideas were dismissed out of hand. The debate was closed.

Thus, in the first quarter of the 21st century, a hundred years after Wilson, that the left was finally able to, as Obama put it, “fundamentally transform” America. By then Americans had become so enamored with their big government and the regulatory state that they were willing to accept its dictates almost blindly. When COVID arrived that public was so convinced the administrative state was god that people in their panic were willing to allow that government to literally cancel the Bill of Rights and many basic laws designed to protect individual rights.

Things change

That decision — to give almost absolute power to the administrative state during a temporary crisis — has ended up backfiring on that administrative state. For the first time in more than a century, everyone saw unequivocally that government was not the answer, and in fact giving it more power only made things worse.

This reality became even more evident during the Biden administration. Spoiled by its ability to rule arbitrarily during the COVID epidemic, the administrative state continued to escalate its power grab once the epidemic subsided. More people were blacklisted. Opposition to the government was met with censorship. New rules imposed racist quotas everywhere while demanding that girls risk injury playing sports against cross-dressing boys.

Now however people were no longer living in fear of an unknown virus, and could see this power grab (for insane reasons) for what it was. The result was the election in 2024 and the landslide for Trump.

Liberty enlightening the world
America, where the citizen is sovereign

Having noted this shift, however, it would still be a mistake to think things have changed radically. What we have now instead is a public that for the first time in more than a half century is open-minded to change. It has not yet abandoned the idea of a big regulatory state, but it now is willing to a question the usefulness of that state very coldly.

Thus, it is imperative for lovers of freedom to push even harder now. It is imperative for the Trump administration to cut at least one or two whole departments at the federal level in order to prove such change will not only do no harm, it will actually improve the state of American society. Prove this once or twice, and the walls against change will begin to fall.

But make no mistake. Changing people’s minds in this fundamental way will take many years and many battles. To push for change, the right now has to do what the left did for the past century, never give up, never give in, and continue the fight on all fronts and at all times.

By doing this and winning small but in time bigger and bigger victories, those who love freedom will slowly convince a now skeptical American public that freedom and tiny government really is a good thing, despite the risks it entails. Freedom also brings glory and success, in ways that can never be imagined in advance.

That glory and success will be the proof that brings freedom back to America.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

12 comments

  • M. Murcek

    As Yul Brynner’s Pharaoh said, “So let it be written. So let it be done.”

  • Thus, it is imperative for lovers of freedom to push even harder now. It is imperative for the Trump administration to cut at least one or two whole departments at the federal level in order to prove such change will not only do no harm, it will actually improve the state of American society. Prove this once or twice, and the walls against change will begin to fall.

    Agreed. The changes need to be substantial, not just rhetorical. Trump’s first-term policies were a down payment on this; Congress needs to back him up to produce lasting, substantial change … and we need to keep them all honest about that.

    But make no mistake. Changing people’s minds in this fundamental way will take many years and many battles. To push for change, the right now has to do what the left did for the past century, never give up, never give in, and continue the fight on all fronts and at all times.

    Continue the fight, including developing our ability to do more than treat the symptoms … the ability to articulate to our neighbors WHY the societal paradigm of our Progressive elite is incapable – despite the best of intentions – of delivering both liberty and security: it leads people to sell their own experiences, insights, and common sense short, in favor of delegating their decisions and actions, in total trust and obedience, to an elite few on the basis of surface appearances as though they are gods.

    It boggles my mind at times to consider that millions of us, even myself for years, put so much trust in mere humans and made ourselves VULNERABLE to their inevitable human failures … but we were led to do so by our society replacing respect for wisdom wherever it appears, with a blind worship of those surface appearances: formal education and its derivative credentialing, the attainment of high position, cultural popularity, polished-and-articulate presentation, and even demonstrated, substantial successes.

    In fact, we could say we are victims of our success, for we learned the wrong lessons from some of the greatest successes from the last century. In particular, during the three decades after we won WWII and found ourselves in a position of global economic dominance as the rest of the world literally rebuilt from the rubble.

    During those thirty years, the collectivist approaches of the New Deal sunk deeper roots into our society, because not only did we see government succeed in winning WWII, ending Jim Crow, and putting men on the Moon and begin to think that the little intellectual elite in the far-distant capital could solve ANY problem … that economic dominance provided such an abundance of resources that we did not accurately perceive the costs of that collectivism, until the rest of the world caught up with us in the 1970’s.

    We began to think that all we had to do was go to work or school, and the elite – our business leaders, our unions, our great minds in academia, and particularly that “winning” government …. would solve our problems and secure our future FOR us, even if we didn’t go beyond the minimum of effort and initiative in our own lives. Then, when the elites failed to deliver what we “deserve”, we looked for others to blame – very often, those that did not buy into this passivity paradigm and were better off for it – instead of seeing that it was our passivity that left prosperity and security on the table for others to pick up.

    That is the attitude that has to change, if this opportunity to reverse Progressive governance is going to produce lasting change that will reverse our slide into decline.

  • BLSinSC

    M. Murcek
    I like that reference and I’ve posted other times another part “Let the name obama/biden/harris be STRICKEN”! There should be every effort to EXPOSE all their crimes and FOLLOW their “mantra” that NO ONE is ABOVE the LAW! I do believe that is why there’s so much outrage – from both sides – about Rep. Gaetz’ appointment! There’s no doubt that he will work with PRESIDENT TRUMP to bring those criminals in and let the Courts/Juries decide their fates!
    The DEMOcrats vastly overplayed their hands. They had the power and used it against Our Nation and Our Citizens with no regard for Our safety or existence! They simply enraged people who had voted for them before without thinking. When TENS of millions of illegals were showered with lavish benefits unavailable to the usual DEMOcrat base, guess what happened! When Americans went to the grocery stores/gas stations/landlords and were smacked right in their faces with outrageous increases, guess what happened!! Odd how some people only adjust when it’s THEIR faces being smacked! On top of all that, the politicalization of Our “justice” system caused many to think (some for the first time) that this is not right!
    Now, PDJT and his TEAM have an opportunity to EXPOSE the ROT and make changes. The R’s in Congress need to support HIM AND US 100%! I know they won’t, but that’s what elections are for! It will take time, but just like shoveling the crap out of the barn, you have to START with the FIRST SHOVELFUL!!

  • Related:

    “And this cycle and process we all are currently engaged in is in search of some new balance which in time and immersed in those concepts cemented into reality regarding individual freedom and protection from the abuse of power from authoritarian government and tyranny by the Constitution ensures we will find it. ”

    https://www.sigma3ioc.com/post/prediction-looking-for-new-job-soon

  • I should have known better than to expect you to be Pollyanna-ish.

    The Republicans played rearguard for decades. After all, it did take almost a century to go from FDR fighting the court in 1937 to Obama simply ignoring it in the 2010s. Anyone who expects the Democrats to put up less of a fight has not been paying attention.

    The “trick”, which is not very tricky, is to get the trendline moving in the other direction. It’s not to get the government headcount and budget back to sane levels in four years. That’s just not possible.

  • Steve Richter

    Just an example of the huge government spending problem in the US. Is Medicaid bloat? That is one of the places where the money is.

    NY Times yesterday reporting on republican desire to cut the Medicaid program.
    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/health/medicaid-cuts-republican-congress.html
    “… States and the federal government share the program’s costs, which totaled $880 billion in 2023. …”

    I like that Dr. Oz will be the medicare and medicaid administrator. But who are the republicans in Congress who specialize in health care policy? How do we govern without policy ideas? Put a cap on malpractice lawsuits? Now that AI knows everything, possibly allow nurses to diagnose and treat patients without physician oversight. Maybe put in place something like the VA, where there is a government run clinic or hospital within travel distance of poor people.

  • wayne

    Steve–
    Ref; Dr. Oz, I’d recommend ‘tentatively trust but verify,’ he’s been wrong on some major stuff. He wasn’t Uncle-Fester but that only made him relatively ‘better.’

  • sippin_bourbon

    Gaetz nomination pulled.

    Everything surrounding this shows that there are people in the so called “winning side” that still do not get it.
    And they are all career politicians.

    Congressional Terms limits.
    No one was meant to serve in elected office for life.

  • Pam Bondi for U.S. Attorney General.

  • Jimmy McNulty

    I expect to be disappointed often during a Trump administration, but not angry that my country is no longer America.
    PS. Got Genesis on Audible, if close to the quality of your blog it will be great.
    PPS. I think Optimism won. Trump and Elon are preaching a secular prosperity Gospel, where we all get a better world for our kids. Dems, want us to be in tiny houses, eat bugs and go away.

  • wayne

    Elon Musk & Akira the Don
    (September 2018)
    “I’d Rather Be Optimistic and Wrong, Than Pessimistic and Right”
    https://youtu.be/7ypJ5ByaYbg
    (6:01)

  • James Street

    “not going to change our country overnight”

    Mostly
    https://t.ly/LwXtm

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