Power and Corruption

The most common arguments for any political program are inevitably that it will "do a lot of good" or "fight poverty" or "help the children". All of these arguments may be true, but even then they ignore one of the most powerful lines of reasoning against expanding the size of government: that the power to do good always can be and often will be twisted to become the power to do evil. Take the recent debate over universal healthcare in America; even if the arguments in favor of the proposed plan were true (that the poor would all be covered, that the quality of healthcare would increase, that the plan would not bankrupt the country), I would still strongly oppose it, simply for the fact that it increases the power of government.

A historical example of this can be found by comparing the French and the English monarchies throughout the Middle Ages and early Modern Era. From the very beginning, the English people had very bad experiences with their monarches; these experiences grew and grew until the nobles of England forced King John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. This document sealed England to a somewhat limited form of monarchy, preventing the king from domineering over the nobles or the people. The Magna Carta went down in history as an important symbol showing that the King, despite his power, was never above the law.

Contrast this with the French, who started out with a series of excellent rulers in the Carolingian Dynasty (840-987). The kings of France repelled invaders, secured peace, and did great services for their people, so as the centuries passed, the people and nobles of the country gradually gave over bits and pieces of their authority to the monarchy. The power of the king grew greater and greater, until finally, by the Capetian Dynasty (1589-1792), the kings had morphed into outright tyrants. The people had grown so used to having centralized power because of the good kings that they had had, and were unable to discern that the power to do good could always turn into the power to do evil, which the Capetian Dynasty of Louis XIV and others had in abundance.

Be wary of government programs that claim to "stimulate prosperity" or "help the poor" or in any other way create happiness out of thin air. Remember instead that the authority that the government holds is based on political coercion: the power to force others to go against their will. No other body holds this distinction; no corporation or private individual can truly and legally "force" someone to do something, only the government can.