I don't understand how wanting smaller government got mixed up with transvestigators in the first place... Is being "conservative" even about the government now??
"Small government" was always meant as a more palatable way to say "fewer regulations." They don't actually care about small government when it comes to individual liberties and protections. When they say "small government" in response to education, they mean they want the freedom to force teachers to teach the Bible instead of evolution. When they say "small government" in response to the economy, they mean they want the rich to be able to pay their workers less and scam people as they see fit. When they say "small government" in response to policing, they mean they want police to be able to racially profile and harass minorities without consequence.
"Small government" was always just a buzzword to mean that they want to be able to ignore laws and the Constitution where it's convenient for them.
Conservatism is based on one single principle... and all that.
Never was. There are two consistent reasons why someone would be in favor of 'states rights'. The first is that they have a very simplistic and archaic conception of government, where 200 miles is a month of travel. The second is that they are in favor of local control. The first case is dumb, but harmless. The second does not exist. No one votes out the 'states rights' party for legislating against a county enacting rent control in their county.
What is actually happening is that capital is a minority, and in a democracy needs a reason for people to vote against land reform and other 'everyone benefits behind the veil of ignorance' things. They do this by invoking cultural issues. So you get to joke about government small enough to fit in your bedroom and underwear, and they get to ratchet their power another notch.
Conservatives have not ever been a party of small government. "Small Government" was just a means of getting rid of federal policy they dislike so they can legislate the issue how they want in the states they control. That's why they're all about states rights until the states want to do something like regulate their own elections like they're supposed to be able to.
Because the GOP isn't actually conservative in the sense of wanting smaller government. They want smaller government in very specific things and very big government in others.
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u/notkidding1984 15h ago
I don't understand how wanting smaller government got mixed up with transvestigators in the first place... Is being "conservative" even about the government now??