The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Do you “hate the government?” Have you stopped recently to wonder why? Since the reign of Ronald Reagan, Americans have increasingly come to believe that the federal government is the source of their personal ills.
President Reagan coined many quotable phrases, but none that attached itself to our politics more than when he told cheering conservatives: “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem!”
These lines made for crowd-pleasing oratory, but the ingratiating Gipper’s words strayed far from the truth. Reagan’s critique was mostly intended as a narrow attack on the economic policies of his predecessors, as he sought to sell “trickle-down economics.” But harder-edged partisans were only too pleased to turn a patriot’s words into an attack on the legitimacy of all U.S. governmental institutions.
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Before buying into the “deep state” conspiracies, we would do well to consider some of the achievements of our government which have improved our personal lives. Start with communication: federally underwritten geniuses invented the internet and almost all the technologies that support it. More inventions in this field will soon be with us, including a universal translator that will allow us to talk to anyone, in any language, in real time. For good or ill, we would no longer have to study foreign languages. Government scientists were on the leading edge of the research that sharply cut deaths caused by breast cancer. How often do you type an address on Waze, Google maps, or some similar device to guide travel? You are using a global positioning satellite, compliments of our space program. And for our military, the brain trust has developed incredible (if terrifying) advanced weaponry: stealth aircraft, flying tanks and self-guided bullets that never miss.
The agency behind this innovation was created by President Eisenhower in response to Sputnik and ever since has maintained the U.S. as the technological leader in electronics, robotics, communications and combat. It is called DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Scientists at this small agency have had their fingers in virtually every innovation of the last half-century. Ukraine would long ago have been in Russian hands were it not for the help of America’s high-technology weapons, which have made it possible for the brave Ukrainians to punch the invaders where it hurts and send them running.
After serving as a legislative specialist on Capitol Hill, I was appointed to President Carter’s sub-Cabinet. I brought with me both the arrogance of youth and the myth of a slothful bureaucracy. After 10 days of briefings from civil servants, I came to realize how profoundly important the permanent government is and how hard its members work. I loved working in Congress, but my decade in the executive branch was the time I most enjoyed.
The non-partisan Pew Research poll closely follows Americans’ views of government. On state and local governments, attitudes have improved over the last two decades, while the federal government has taken a beating. Interestingly, the criticism lands not on civil servants who are seen by the public as quite competent but the political appointees who are judged to be power-hungry and corrupt.
As my mentor Mo Udall used to tell me, every system produces a predictable result. In America today, money dominates our elections, which in turn buys victories for special interests, both in Congress and the executive branch. Where money rules, corruption follows. And that is what has become obvious to the public.
When I graduated from college, John Kennedy had called a whole generation to public service. Positions in the federal agencies were the plums that thousands of the best young minds yearned to have. With the baby boomers retiring, we must once again call on the best and brightest to help turn new technologies in energy, communications, transportation, and space exploration into powerful assets to build the future of the planet. No government is perfect, and ours is no different. There are inefficiencies, redundancies and occasional instances of incompetence. But the contemporary vogue for regarding our government with lacerating contempt and impugning its very motives, is both ahistorical and self-defeating.
The poet, songwriter and wiseman Leonard Cohen once said: “You’re not going to like what comes after America.” Ignore his warning at your peril.
Bracy
Terry Bracy, a regular Star contributor, has served as a political adviser, campaign manager, congressional aide, sub-Cabinet official, board member and as an adviser to presidents.