Hi @meno these two questions interest me a lot.
'Is the idea of a small government the unicorn no one will ever catch? Or do you actually think it could happen?'
I am not sure that a small government is even a desirable thing.
It seems to me that having a small number of people making the real decisions is already the way things are.
What most people seem to be thinking about when they see the phrase 'small government' is having less people paid by their taxes.
The reality is the real power is money. Only those with lots of it get a seat at that table. The Government paid for by your taxes, is just there to stifle any real democratic process ever taking place.
I guess as I'm learning more and more, I'm coming to grips with the fact that we have many layers of unnecessary fat within our governments. And on the flip side of that, we have systems, initiatives that are underfunded, because we have such bloated governments.
When I think of small government, at least in an ideal scenario. I'm thinking of small enough to still be efficient, but allow no one to be lazy.
I'm completely OK with paying taxes, and have done so my whole adult life. What frustrates me is that the money gets used to finance wars, and things I don't want.
We are very like minded joe...