Left versus Right: Quote of the day.

I always struggle when trying put into words some of the structural differences between right and left ideologies. So it was like I was hit with a lightning bolt when I saw these little paragraphs by the inestimable Dr. Krugman.

"On the right, people are for smaller government as a matter of principle — smaller government for its own sake. And so they naturally imagine that their opponents must be their mirror image, wanting bigger government as a goal in itself.

But it’s not true. I don’t know any progressives who gloat over increases in the federal payroll or the government share of GDP. Progressives have things they want the government to do — like guaranteeing health care. Size per se doesn’t matter. But people on the right apparently can’t get that."

This is a large part of it. Liberals and Progressives do not want a bigger government for the sake of bigger government. Specifically I want a smarter government. If it is big or small I do not really care as long as it works and does the things I deem are necessary. If a larger government infrastructure is required then so be it. It is not the size that I am preoccupied with, it is its efficacy that matters to me.

So to dispel the myth, I do not want a bigger government, just a better one. Somethings require more governmental intervention.

-Cheers