What is 'Big Government'

[NebraskaFootball]

@Konssurvative1

Gotcha. I was blown away. Are there any small Government politicians anymore.

Justin Amash seems to be one of the few.

[margaretms2]

@Orygun

“Big Government” brought you

• child labor laws
• civil rights laws
• minority voting rights
• women’s voting rights
• the minimum wage
• maternity leave
• the US highway system
• National park system

And on and on. Those decrying government seem to forget why we need government.

The three men with yellow armbands in this Rockwell painting of Ruby Bridges: That’s Big Government. Or, as George Wallace said not all that long after, on related issues: "With this assassin’s knife and a blackjack in the hand of the Federal force-cult, the left-wing liberals will try to force us back into bondage . . . Today, this tyranny is imposed by the central government . . . "

[Guvnah]

@CassandraJoe

I’m making a distinction between “ Big Government ” and a government that just happens to be big.

It has been explained repeatedly in this thread that “Big Government” is a concept. Your demand to quantify a concept is your strawman.

You’re on your own with that.

[Eagle-Keeper]

@CassandraJoe

To manage the affairs of 330 Million people throughout the whole range of human endeavor, Government HAS to be big. Bigger, at least than a country of just 3 million that we were at the Founding. Bigger than a less sophisticated country like Indonesia that doesn’t have the opportunities we have in the U.S.

Here is an example when Government gets too big (and if you want to use a different word for big than fine):

NJ.com

Hair braiding in N.J. without a license should never have been a crime |…

For decades the New Jersey State Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling has mandated that all hairstylists and barbers in the state be licensed to operate - and that includes braiders.

Here is one excerpt from the article:

"Of all the crimes that will get you arrested in the Garden State, braiding hair has to be one of the silliest.

But that’s exactly what happened four years ago to Melek Ustunluk, who worked out of a shop in Passaic and found herself facing charges of operating illegally under strict rules that require that braiders undergo more hours of training than emergency medical technicians.

You can’t get much lower-tech than braiding, which essentially involves a comb and the talents of the individual doing the braiding.

But for more than three decades, the New Jersey State Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling has mandated that all hairstylists and barbers in the state be licensed to operate - and that includes braiders.

And that means attending beauty school, with its $17,000 price tag."

[AngraMainyu]

@noSpaces

What is the empirical definition of ‘Big Government’? At what point does government transcend from ‘small’ to ‘big’? There is political mileage to be had from attacking the breadth of government, so at what point does that run out? Is any government greater than no government ‘big government’?

It’s a buzzword.