Having been to the US a couple of times I'm not so convinced about the culture of small government. The prevalence of the military and celebration of government symbol's don't reflect a culture of small government. It seems to be more about priorities of government than about size of government.

Have a look at http://www.satellite-sightseer.com/id/1426 (Davis-Monthan Air Force Base) and try and fit that with a culture of small government.

Whilst I agree with the concept of small government especially minimization of the level of interference in individuals lives I've not seen anything which suggests the Tea-party is at all representative of what I'd look for in that direction.

R0bert

Well written RObert. Not small government but smaller government with better targeted programs. There is too much waste which only draws revenue away from more essential infrastructure.

Your point about interference in people's lives is apt. Less red tape to get things done would also be a good start. And the recent current affairs program attention to the council obsessions with grass mowing and exhorbitant fees for not mowing the lawn and other minor matters is laughable.

Speeding fines are less than the woman who got charged $300 then another $500 for not mowing her lawn (the latter a fine for ignoring the first given she was OS at the time).

grputland seems to take a mish mash of arguments and bake them into a right mess. Constitutional guards against government interference is one thing, but allowing a 'constitutionally correct' huge and growing government doesn't guarantee good governance, or even competent government.

Large government impacts on individual freedoms simply because it taxes the general citizen for little or no productive good.

An unwieldy public service is expert at defending its own growth, regardless of productivity.

Methinks your faith in institutions is an expensive and misplaced faith, putland.

I am heartened to see the author seeing through the tripe of our cultural love of 'big government'. It gives me faint hope for the future.

In spite of our current massive bureaucracy and continued growth, we can't even look after our foster children, our disabled or carers properly.

Giving our people the power to look after themselves and their own, by reducing taxes and churn and encouraging self-sufficiency, would be a huge step forward for this country.

Perhaps bringing public service superannuation benefits in line with net taxpayers' would be a good starting point for increasing government productivity?