Reducing the Size of the Federal Government

This has been cross-posted to the Western Standard Blog; The Shotgun

Jim Cotton over at Manitobapost.com recently took a look at the Canadian Constitution and what it says are the functions of the Federal Government.

I am what you might call a minarchist, I am for reducing the size of government to be very, very small. Part of the reason I feel this way is because I feel the evidence shows that when government involves itself in the lives and business of people that want to act on a voluntary basis (which is how most people interact) that it leads to undesirable results. Some of those undesired results are taxing your labour, spending that money on things you may disagree with and wouldn't fund voluntarily on your own, using that money to oppress people in their personal choices, and on and on.

So, when I looked at Jim Cottons summary of the roles of the Federal Government I see many, many things that the government has no legitimate role in being part of, and areas where the free market can provide that service in a superior way. If the scope of government is reduced, then less money would be used to run the government, which means more money stays in your pocket.

So I'm going to look at some of the items in the Canadian Constitution and give a brief response as to the free market solution for each. Keeping in mind that this is for the Federal Government only, Provincial and Municipal governments still involve themselves in your lives.

Keep in mind this is only one section of the Constitution (Powers of the Parliament), there is much more to it.

2. The Regulation of Trade and Commerce - regulation brings up the costs of doing business. The free market is capable of self-regulation.

2A. Unemployment insurance - there are all sorts of private insurance; fire, house, business, property, there could be a market for Employment Insurance.

3. The raising of Money by any Mode or System of Taxation - by any mode, great, they can legally come to my house and rob my piggy bank, legal theft.

5. Postal Service - there are already other postal services out there, competition in first class mail has been made illegal by the feds, lets break the government monopoly and open it up to competition.

6. The Census and Statistics - there are already private organizations that do this (Nielsen Media Research for TV statistics for example) and there would be a market for an organization to provide this service since it quite useful.

7. Militia, Military and Naval Service, and Defence - militias don't need to be government run, national defense seem to be a proper role of a national government. Though what the feds do today isn't defense, it's nation building and meddling in the affairs of other countries. We would resent it if it was done to us, and Canada shouldn't do it to other people.

9. Beacons, Buoys, Lighthouses, and Sable Island - seems to me that companies that use the sea and ports would have an interest in making sure that they had safe passage. They can fund their own infrastructure. Perhaps the Provincial governments of that area may have an involvement, doesn't seem that it would need to be a federal function.

10. Navigation and Shipping - see 9

11. Quarantine and the Establishment and Maintenance of Marine Hospitals - see 9

12. Sea Coast and Inland Fisheries - see 9

13. Ferries between a Province and any British or Foreign Country or between Two Provinces - see 9

14. Currency and Coinage - this may seem like a legitimate role but government being in charge of the money system leads to many of the economic problems we see in North America, such as inflation. There have been competing monetary systems in place in the U.S. (like the liberty dollar) but they have been shut down by the feds. Yes, there can even be competition in monetary systems and banks that issue the money.

15. Banking, Incorporation of Banks, and the Issue of Paper Money - see 14

16. Savings Banks - see 14

17. Weights and Measures - national standards are handy, but it amounts to the government telling business how to operate, rather than letting the business decide that on their own; a federal government is not needed to have standards. The electronics industry self-organizes to have common standards, with groups such as the Blue Ray Disc Association. Even with a seemingly benign federal duty such as this, it still requires a bureaucracy (Measurement Canada), paid bureaucrats, overhead, offices, etc, which raises the cost of running the government.

18. Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes - see 14

19. Interest - see 14

20. Legal Tender -see 14

21. Bankruptcy and Insolvency - legal protection for getting out of paying your debts; an abdication of personal responsibility, should be abolished.

22. Patents of Invention and Discovery - patents should be abolished, it is simply a monopoly on a concept and prevents other from using their own labour to produce.

23. Copyrights - copyright law is far too pervasive and complex, and has many lobbying groups trying to get their version of what they want protected put into law. Copyright can be handed simply the same as property laws.

24. Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians - the federal government has no business in running the lives of a particular ethnic group. The Indian Act should and the Reserve system should be scrapped.

25. Naturalization and Aliens - perhaps a legit role here, but getting in and out of Canada should be easy. Perhaps only violent criminals should be kept out.

26. Marriage and Divorce - government has no legit role in controlling marriages, that should be between the parties that wish to get married. It can be handled by simple contracts with the government having no say.

28. The Establishment, Maintenance, and Management of Penitentiaries - government-run penitentiaries? Yikes. This can be a private business that may be charitable or for profit, if it's a service people want then there is a market for it.

Every role that the government takes on requires bureaucracy, bureaucrats, budgets, overhead, paperwork, etc.; you pay for it whether you use those services or not, whether they are run efficiently or not, whether they are corrupt or not, whether you object to them morally or not.

If you want to keep more money in your pocket and have more personal freedom, then advocate reducing the government to a very small size, we will all be better off.