Freedom is a funny thing. The more of it people have, the more opportunity they have to restrict other people's freedom. Both the left and the right talk about protecting freedom and liberty, but one thing neither side talks about is that some freedoms must be restricted. Yes, freedom and liberty must be protected and preserved, but not all freedoms and liberties should be protected. People should not have the freedom to deny other people's right to freedom and liberty.
The founding fathers understood the importance of government, and that a government's job is to function as a ruling body; that's why they gave our government the power to pass laws and regulations. They also felt that the government should be a representation of the people, that is why they established a democracy, so that there wouldn't be a ruling caste that inherited it's power by birthright. However, they also established a constitution, because they understood that even in a democracy, a government could still become corrupt and hand itself ever increasing powers; powers that would make it the arbiter of freedom and liberty. That is why we our a constitutional republic.
Today, our biggest problem isn't that our government has too much power and authority. Quite the contrary, our biggest problem is our government's unwillingness to use the authority it has been provided to it. Our country has big problems, and one of these problems stems from the rampant corruption in the government. This corruption has caused the government to become inactive, while corporate entities squander our country's resources and inhibit the people's freedoms and liberties. Part of this corruption has been a distortion of the facts, to blur the meaning of the constitution so that it benefits those who seek profit on the backs of the people.
The constitution was never established to prevent the government from protecting people from corporate greed and the massive companies who are choking this country's economy. If the founders could see how the constitution is being interpreted today, to prevent the government from doing it's duty to pass laws and regulations that protect the people; they would rip that document up. Times have changed since the days of our founders, when different states could have more discretion. Globalization has taken root, big businesses are no longer limited to a few states but have franchises in all of them, food grown in one state is sold throughout the country, and facilities in one state can have an adverse impact on the environment of others. Advances in communication and travel have made our states more interconnected than ever before, and as our states become connected we need a federal government to oversee and regulate these channels.
The Federal government has a clear role to play in the twenty-first century. It needs to encourage growth in research and technology, it needs to reign in the powers of massive corporate entities, and it needs to update our entitlement programs to grant people access to more freedoms and opportunities. Conservatives and libertarians argue that in doing so the government will be curbing individual freedoms and liberties. Yes, it does reign in some freedoms and liberties, but it does so to expand more freedoms and liberties to everybody. Corporations shouldn't be able to monopolize the markets to deprive people of choice and opportunity. Education and healthcare must be a right so people have the freedom to pursue their goals. Green technologies needs to be subsidized so that we can preserve our modern lifestyle without ruining our environment. Progress should be embraced, because our society will continue to grow, and we as a people need to grow with it. We shouldn't hinder it by trying to cling to antiquated ideas and technologies; outdated ways of thinking that will impair our economy and our future.
The government's job is to ensure the freedoms and liberties of all the people. To do that, it must inhibit the freedoms of people to impede upon the freedoms of other people. The government has a mandate to preserve and protect our freedoms, not to neglect it's authority to allow corporate greed to undermine our rights. The government's job is to govern, to lead; this idea that our government has no authority is absurd, because that is what a government does. When conservatives and libertarians talk about limited government, they often aren't talking about expanding our freedoms, but expanding the freedoms of others to limit our freedoms.