Record High Say Big Government Is Top Threat. Do They Really Mean It?
A recent Gallup poll resulted in a record high of 1,000+ Americans polled naming "Big Government" as the top threat to the United States as opposed to Big Business or Big Labor. This is unquestionably a good thing, however one has to wonder if those questioned truly understand what Big Government is, and if they truly mean it when they say that it is the biggest threat to the US.
Each party group currently rates big government as the greatest threat to the country, including a record-high 92% of Republicans and 71% of independents, as well as 56% of Democrats. Democrats are most likely of the partisan groups to name big business as the biggest threat, at 36%; relatively few Republicans, 4%, view big business as the most threatening.
Where I have questions about the opinions of those polled falls into each person's definition of "Big Government." I can confidently state that I believe the impetus for this leap in government as a concern, overtaking business or labor, is directly linked to Obamacare and the NSA spying scandal, especially among independents. The extension of the US into healthcare, and the revelations made through the leaked documents about the PRISM program by Edward Snowden have opened people's eyes to the problems that a big brother state is accompanied by. However, I wonder how many of those polled wouldn't have seen "Big Government" as a threat prior to these recent happenings?The government is a behemoth. The latest extensions are, honestly, drops in the bucket comparatively. The general public accepts existing government services as a need that can't be fulfilled by any other provider - a concept that is utterly wrong, yet most difficult to dislodge from the psyche of the everyday American. Roads, police, education, etc., are all under this umbrella of services along with countless others that I doubt these folks would view as "big" - they just view that as "government." Non-threatening, must-have-it government as it always has been and always will be, as insane and incorrect as that understanding of the State is.This poll reveals that people are fed up, and hopefully waking up, but there is much more education that has to happen and a far better definition of exactly what "Big Government" is before I can take too much solace in the opinions of my fellow citizens.Any government is a threat to liberty. The faster we bring people to realize that fact, the better our society will be.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
