Small Government, Big Chains: The Lie of Trump’s Libertarian “Freedom”

Welcome to the Hunger Games: This is what happens when government shrinks...

They’re lying to us again. The American government isn’t too big or too bloated: it’s too small. And the result of it being too small is a steady erosion of Americans’ freedom over the past forty-four years.

As Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his March, 1933 inaugural address:

“A necessitous man is not a free man.”

— If you or your children are sick but afraid to go to the hospital because you know the bills will leave you broke and homeless, you’re not free.
— If you need to go to college or trade school to get a better life but can’t afford it, you’re not free.
— If you’re hungry and can’t buy food for your family, you’re not free.
— If you can’t afford housing and have to live in a tent on the street or constantly one step ahead of eviction, you’re not free.
— If you’re afraid every day that your child may not come home from school because Republicans have saturated the nation with deadly weapons, you’re not free.
— If you’re old and broken but still having to work because you can’t live on Social Security, you’re not free.
— If your bank and insurance company are ripping you off and you have no recourse, you’re not free.
— If your voice and vote are drowned out because billionaires, AIPAC, and giant corporations are pouring cash into elections, you’re not free.
— If your boss refuses to let you and your fellow workers unionize and punishes you for demanding better wages, working conditions, and benefits you’re not free.

These are all things, including safety from gun violence, that are traditionally provided by “big government.” And the governments of most every other advanced democracy in the world do provide these things to their people.

But not America, because our government is too small.

And it’s been shrinking steadily ever since the Reagan Revolution took an axe to federal programs to pay for his tax cuts for billionaires. The year the Gipper was inaugurated, federal workers made up 2.6% of the total US workforce; today’s they’re 0.87% of all American workers.

Too small.

Our population has grown steadily, while — as a result of repeated Republican austerity cuts to the federal workforce over four GOP administrations — the number of people who keep us safe and guarantee a middle class lifestyle has shrunk.

— That’s why it takes forever to get ahold of anybody at Social Security, the IRS, or Medicare to answer a question or help out.
— It’s why it’s mind-mindbogglingly difficult to report to the feds that your bank is trying to rip you off.
— It’s why polluters skate while Americans in cancer alleys and toxic dump areas die.
— It’s why we have tent cities along our streets and highways.
— It’s why drug and insurance companies rip us off daily.
— It’s why employers like Bezos, Trump, and Musk get away with denying their workers union representation.

The simple reality is that the only way to have a strong, vibrant middle class is to have a strong, activist federal government. And without a strong, vibrant middle class you don’t have a free nation.

For decades, American political discourse has been dominated by the idea that “big government” is a problem. From Ronald Reagan’s famous quip that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem” to today’s Musk- and GOP-led efforts to slash government spending, Americans have been conditioned by the rightwing media machine to view a larger government as an inherent threat to liberty and prosperity.

But this fundamental assumption is wrong. If we’re truly committed to America being the “land of opportunity” with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness at its core, the U.S. government is far too small.

Comparing the United States to other wealthy nations, particularly European and Scandinavian countries, reveals a stark contrast in how governments serve their citizens.

Those nations enjoy a higher quality of life, better health outcomes, lower poverty rates, and more economic security — because their governments do more. They provide universal healthcare, generous paid family leave, free or low-cost higher education, and strong worker protections.

And contrary to the uniquely American (and now Argentinian) conservative argument that big government means less freedom, these policies actually increase individual freedom, allowing people to live healthier, more secure, and more fulfilling lives.

A good measure of a government’s size is its spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP); this metric lets us to compare how much a nation invests in public services relative to the size of its economy.

According to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the U.S. government spends about 37% of GDP on public expenditures, including Social Security, Medicare, defense, and other services. In contrast, European nations typically spend between 45% and 55% of GDP.

Scandinavian countries — Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland — allocate an even larger portion of their GDP to public services, often well exceeding 55%. Their governments play an active role in ensuring citizens have access to high-quality healthcare, education, housing assistance, childcare, and more. In these nations, individuals do not have to worry about medical bankruptcy, crushing student debt, housing, or lack of parental leave.

Greedy billionaire “conservatives” and their paid media shills, their Republican politicians, and their think tanks argue that “smaller government leads to more freedom.” It’s complete bullshit (unless you’re a billionaire), and needs to be called out every time they try pushing it on us.

In reality, the Republican model of small government restricts the freedom of ordinary people by tying necessities such as healthcare, education, and retirement security to personal wealth.

In today’s post-Reagan America, you’re only free if you’re rich.

By contrast, European- and Canadian-style social democracy increases the freedom of working class people by ensuring that their basic human needs are met, allowing citizens to pursue careers, start families, and enjoy life without constant economic anxiety.

Take healthcare as an example. The U.S. is the only wealthy country in the world that does not provide universal healthcare. As a result, Americans live in constant fear of medical bills. A single illness can lead to bankruptcy, forcing families to make impossible choices between healthcare and basic necessities.

How the hell does that help create or expand “freedom”?

In European countries (and Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, and Costa Rica), healthcare is a right, not a privilege. No one has to stay in a job they hate just to keep their insurance. No one has to choose between paying rent and buying life-saving medication.

That is real freedom.

In the United States, college tuition has skyrocketed over the last few decades, forcing students into lifelong debt just to get an education. In contrast, European nations — particularly in Scandinavia and Germany — offer free or low-cost higher education, allowing young people to focus on learning rather than worrying about how to pay off loans for decades.

Work-life balance is another major issue. The U.S. has no federally mandated paid parental leave, forcing millions of Americans to return to work almost immediately after childbirth. European countries, by contrast, guarantee generous paid family leave, enabling parents to care for their newborns without financial ruin.

Which system provides more real freedom?

Because the U.S. government is too small relative to GDP, the American middle class is stretched thin in ways that just never happen in other wealthy democracies. Housing costs are skyrocketing, wages have stagnated, and basic services like childcare and elder care are prohibitively expensive.

The result is that millions of Americans live paycheck to paycheck with massive debt, with little opportunity to build wealth or even achieve basic economic stability.

Consider retirement security. Social Security is one of the most effective and popular government programs in American history, yet Republicans consistently push to cut or privatize it and Musk’s teenagers are working hard to find ways to cut it even further.

Meanwhile, pensions have all but disappeared in the private sector, leaving most workers dependent on 401(k)s, which are subject to the volatility of the stock market. In contrast, European nations provide generous public pensions — their equivalent of Social Security — that ensure seniors can retire with dignity and without fear of poverty.

Opponents of “Big Government” often point to higher taxes in Europe as a reason to reject their model. And, yes, taxes are higher in those countries (particularly on the rich) — but in return, citizens receive significant benefits that eliminate major out-of-pocket expenses and expand their personal freedom.

When those costs are factored in along with billionaire tax-avoidance schemes and loopholes, middle-class Americans pay more taxes in total than Europeans, but receive far fewer benefits.

And Scandinavian citizens are consistently ranked among the happiest in the world, according to the World Happiness Report because they experience significantly lower levels of economic stress. They don’t have to worry about medical bills, student debt, or retirement insecurity. Instead of spending their lives with financial anxiety, they can focus on personal fulfillment, family, and community.

Years ago, I was up late one night in an Asian city (Taipei, as I recall) watching the financial news on a hotel TV. A young American host was interviewing a very wealthy German businessman at a conference in Singapore.

Amidst questions about the business climate and the conference, the host asked the German businessman what tax rate he was “suffering under” in his home country. As I recall, the businessman said, “A bit over 60 percent, when everything is included.”

“How can you handle that?” asked the host, incredulous.

The German shrugged his shoulders and moved the conversation to another topic.

A few minutes later, the American reporter, still all wound up by the tax question, again asked the businessman how he could possibly live in a country with such a high tax rate on very wealthy and successful people. Again, the German deferred and changed the subject.

The reporter went for a third try. “Why don’t you lead a revolt against those high taxes?” he asked, his tone implying the businessman was badly in need of some good old American rebellion-making.

The German businessman paused for a long moment and then leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees, his clasped hands in front of him pointing at the reporter as if in prayer.

He stared at the young man for another long moment and then, in the tone of voice an adult uses to correct a spoiled child, said simply, “I don’t want to be a rich man in a poor country.”

There are a few wealthy Americans who understand this. Like the Patriotic Millionaires group, they embrace an opportunity to help our country, often via Democratic politicians.

But the billionaires who fund the Republican Party and own right-wing media believe it’s perfectly fine to rip the moral and political guts out of their own nation, condemn its future to severe weather, and turn its people against each other if it helps them fill their money bins.

For too long, the economic and political debate in the U.S. has been framed around whether government is “too big” or “too small.” But the real question should be: Does our government serve the needs of our people?

The evidence suggests that it does not. Today’s U.S. government is simply too small relative to GDP to provide the level of public services that other advanced democracies offer their citizens. And Trump and Musk are dedicated to cutting it even further so they can fund more tax cuts and business subsidies for billionaires.

To change this, we must rethink our priorities. Expanding government programs in healthcare, education, paid leave, childcare, and retirement security would not make us “less free” — they would actually increase our freedom. They would relieve financial burdens, provide greater security, and allow more Americans to pursue their dreams without constant economic anxiety.

The Scandinavian and European models prove that a strong, active government can create a fairer, freer, and happier society. The U.S. hardly lacks the resources to build such a system: we simply lack the political will to tax the rich and turn that into a foundation for a vibrant middle class.

Once we’re past this current crisis of democracy (fingers crossed), we need to focus on changing that. It’s time to recognize that our government should not just be big enough to fund the military and bail out massive banks; it should be big enough to ensure that every American can live a life of dignity, security, and opportunity.

As I lay out in The Hidden History of the American Dream, that’s the real American dream, and it’s one worth fighting for.

The song that was inspired by this article is here.
My reading this article as an audio podcast is here.
My new book, The Hidden History of the American Dream, is now available.
You can follow me on Blue Sky here.