Big government

About

The phrase "big government", paired with its more-virtuous twin "small government", is a conflation of several aspects of government – most of which are generally agreed to be harmful, but some of which are beneficial. The phrase is often used to covertly condemn the positive aspects by conflating them with the negative ones – an argument-in-a-box.

Traits of "big government" which are near-universally agreed to be harmful are:

• aggressive government (starts wars)
• invasive government (spying, arbitrary rules and paperwork for individuals and small businesses)
• oppressive government (restrictions on personal freedom)
• unconstitutional government (violates its contracts with its citizens)

Traits of "big government" which are arguably beneficial:

• supportive government (provides welfare, builds infrastructure)
• regulatory government (rules and paperwork for large businesses)

"Big government" is therefore often used as a semantic bait-and-switch to argue against the beneficial aspects of government which are nonetheless unpopular with plutonomists, frontierists, and other authoritarians.

Links

Reference

• Wikipedia
• Conservapedia
• dKosopedia: no information as of 2013-09-27
• SourceWatch: redirects to "Government intervention", a tobacco industry propaganda term
• RationalWiki: no information as of 2013-09-27

News

• 2026-02-17 [L..T] "You Outlaw It": Heritage Foundation President Announces Intent To Outlaw All Trans Adult Care «On Tuesday, the president of the billionaire-backed Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, appeared on the influential far-right PBD podcast to discuss gender-affirming care. During his appearance, he echoed usual far-right anti-transgender talking points, including linking being transgender to being inherently violent. Then, the conversation turned towards what the Heritage Foundation was working on when it comes to the future of transgender people. It was during this shift that Roberts darkly announced that his solution to being transgender was simple: "You outlaw it," and that the organization was working to ban gender-affirming care at all ages through an incremental process he described as "radical incrementalism."»
• 2026-02-14 [L..T] A short note to Kristi Noem «Hello? Kristi Noem? [..] Robert Reich here. I hear you’re trying to find the names of people who are making negative comments on social media about ICE enforcement. [..] Look no further. I’ve done it frequently. I’m still doing it. This note to you, which I’m posting on Substack, is another example. [..] If you want more details, just type “Robert Reich” into an internet browser, followed by YouTube or Facebook or Instagram or X or TikTok or Reddit. Or Substack. Then type in your name, or ICE, or the Department of Homeland Security. That will give you plenty of evidence.»
• 2026-02-13 [L..T] Homeland Security Wants Social Media Sites to Expose Anti-ICE Accounts «The Department of Homeland Security is expanding its efforts to identify Americans who oppose Immigration and Customs Enforcement by sending tech companies legal requests for the names, email addresses, telephone numbers and other identifying data behind social media accounts that track or criticize the agency. [..] In recent months, Google, Reddit, Discord and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, have received hundreds of administrative subpoenas from the Department of Homeland Security, according to four government officials and tech employees privy to the requests. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.»
• 2026-02-03 13:21 UTC [L..T] Trump, in an Escalation, Calls for Republicans to ‘Nationalize’ Elections «During an extended monologue about immigration on a podcast released on Monday by Dan Bongino, his former deputy F.B.I. director, Mr. Trump called for Republican officials to “take over” voting procedures in 15 states, though he did not name them. [..] “The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’” he said. “We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”» Trump did not specify which "15 places" he had in mind.
• 2016-09-11 [L..T] The TSA is a Waste of Money That Doesn't Save Lives and Might Actually Cost Them “As a test, Homeland Security officials tried to sneak guns and bombs through TSA checkpoints. They succeeded almost every time.”