The Leviathan Grows

The growth of the United States government has been quite incoherent. There have been epochs where the United States has experienced little governmental expansion and others where there has been an unbelievable increase in centralized authority; under Lincoln, Roosevelt, Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, and, most recently, George W. Bush federal powers were shamelessly expanded. These presidents served only to increase the size and scope of the federal government and systematically seize control of many of the liberties the United States citizens once enjoyed.

Lincoln removed the right to secession that was ingrained in the United States prior to the "war against southern independence" or better known as the Civil War. Roosevelt effectively plunged the United States economy into a depression that lasted a decade. The 1929 depression was not caused by the policies of Roosevelt (in fact they were caused by the foolish actions of the Federal Reserve) but his administration's socialist policies failed to allow the economy to recover. Roosevelt spent hundreds of millions of dollars on public make-work programs that only served to misallocated resources. Roosevelt also kept wages artificially high as well as prices and did little to cure the problem of unemployment. Johnson enacted the horrid social programs that were supposed to bring about a "greater society" but failed by turning our nation into one that depends wholly on the government. His administration also entered us into the Vietnam War, one of the worst military decisions in the history of the United States and a conflict that the nation should never have participated in.

The result of the war were thousands of dead Vietnamese civilians, United States soldiers, and billions of dollars in expenditures towards the war effort. The problem of overspending was so devastating that gold was being shipped out by foreign central banks from the Federal Reserve. The country had made too many outstanding debts with respect to the amount of gold the Federal Reserve had. Thus, the United States was effectively going bankrupt. Nixon entered the presidency after Johnson and, fearing bankruptcy, eliminated the international gold standard. This removed the last objective check the United States currency had against endless inflation. This looming bankruptcy could have been solved by simply end the Federal Reserve's inflationary trends, something Nixon had no desire in doing. In addition, Nixon furthered the fight against drugs in the United States and brought about a horrible civil war now labeled as the "War on Drugs." This enforcement of absurd drug laws has cost the tax payer hundreds of billions of dollars and has only served to increase the number of drug suppliers and drug users in the country as well as allowing the central authorities more reasons to breach civilian constitutional rights.

Reagan had been elected to the presidency under a free market banner but was nothing of the sort. His administration spent more on government programs than any other president since Roosevelt. Government spending as a percentage of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) was at an all time high and hence, so was the power of government. Our debts increased rapidly and Reagan's tax cuts did little to fight the ever growing deficits. Reagan also managed to instate a "voluntary" trade barrier with Japanese automobile manufacturers. In an effort to favor United States automobile producers, who were getting much competition from the Japanese automakers, Reagan mandated that Japan decrease the amount of automobiles exported to the United States or the administration would raise the tariffs. The Japanese government agreed and the end result was lower quality, higher-priced automobiles in the United States and Japan.

George W. Bush has done little besides blur the limits the Federal government has when investigating its citizens. The infamous P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act has served to increase the size and scope of the governmental police forces and has made it simpler for the central authorities to breach civilian Constitutional rights. Bush has also begun a war with the government of Iraq that had nothing to do with the 9/11 tragedy. In order to pay for this war the Federal Reserve has been pumping money into the government, which has had the consequence of inflating our prices as well as bringing about economic malinvestment.

The inhumane acts of these administrations and their breaches of the United States constitution are vast. The number of individuals who have been negatively affected by these monstrous presidents are unbelievable and the figure is increasing rapidly. One thing is certain when evaluating the history of the United States government, the citizens have been losing their liberties at the expense of centralized authority. This country will never be freed until citizens realize that the answer to all of their problems is not more government, but less. As the late Frank Zappa once wrote, "there ain't no Great Society, as it applies to you and me, our country isn't free."