Libertarianism

Lord Acton summed it up best when he stated, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Despite the fact the since 1968 Americans have elected the every presidential candidate that pledged to support a smaller government, the "federal budget has risen from $178 billion to 1.6 trillion." (6:191) Much of the government we see today began nearly seventy years as black Thursday in October of 1929 dawned not only the collapse of our economy a new modern era of government regulation. Those that were unfortunate to brave the Great Depression remember the decade the precluded it. Manufacturing output increased, productivity costs fell, corporate profits boomed, luxury spending increased all in effect due to the government's increased speculation inflating the money and credit supply--leading to an oversupply of goods. In our economy that supply did not equal the demand; middle-class Americans could no longer afford their luxuries and materialistic wants in as much the wealthy were satisfied by spending a meager portion of their income. Despite calling for a twenty-five percent reduction in federal spending, a balanced federal budget, a stable gold currency, and the removal of government from areas where private enterprise would be best suited President Franklin Roosevelt accomplished neither. Instead, FDR instituted "the New Deal"-- a counterproductive attempt to restore the nations economy. Under the New Deal forty two new agencies now controlled everything from airlines and broadcasting to oil and agricultural production. The programs were directed at impeding the behavior of self-interested businesses. On that note, we are constantly reminded that our government, our politicians and our beaurocrats all act in the best interest of the public. They're are simply working to serve us. However, it is the individual and private businesses that are inherently self-seeking, right? In fact, private enterprises have a bare objective, that is to succeed they must produce what the public wants.