Starve the beast. Perhaps you've heard the term. It refers to the effort to shrink the federal government by starving it of tax revenues. I have news that isn't news at all, the "beast" is officially starved. The CBO puts this years budget shortfall at 1.3 trillion dollars, and this isn't an unusual thing. The entitlement budget crisis hasn't even come around yet.
Now there are ways to raise some cash, we have a society with one of the worst wealth disparities in the world, there is certainly room to tax the well to do more, there has also been talk of enacting a VAT, value added tax. The thing is these moves might fill the gap, but forget about expanding any part of the government.
So as a liberal I have wondered where this leaves us. Unlike my neighbors the conservatives I don't believe smaller government is going to cure anything other than that deficit, and I think there are many areas that could stand to have increased attention from the public sector, but that isn't going to happen, the "beast" is starved. And there is an answer, although it isn't one I like to put forward, we will have to do what needs to be done ourselves.
This isn't such a stretch from a historical or cultural standpoint, however. The left has a long history of grass roots activism, that activism needs to be reborn with a purpose. And things like buying local initiatives, businesses that clean up along highways, and community watches all point to a willingness to tackle issues locally. Volunteerism in community soup kitchens, after school programs, and substance abuse programs are also things that need to find expanded purpose. Innovative thinking also needs to be applied to caring for those that need medical or housing care but aren't able to find sufficient assitance from the public sector.
Of course some of these things are lead by groups that we may find objectionable, like local churches, but in times of such pressing need we need to recognize that these organizations are run by people who are our neighbors, and now more than ever we need our neighbors despite differences in ideology.
Relying on such throwback ideas is a difficult thing to do. It amounts to admitting that we have screwed up our chance to have government work for us, but it would seem we have little choice. The real pity comes when all these bills must be paid, (by 2012 the largest single line item in the federal budget will be debt service), then we will ask ourselves how this came to pass, and what do we have to show for the years of accumulated public debt. There will be, and should be outrage that so much money was wasted.
What better way to answer those years of waste, by both parties, than by marginilizing governments role in our lives by taking control of those things that we might otherwise look to Washington to solve. And so my dear neighbors, I am with you in seeing the sadness of this day when our government is broke and scarcely able to help us meet the challenges of this new century. But the only thing to do now is when we see a homeless person, or hear of a neighbor who is be foreclosed on, or worry for our children wondering where and what kind of jobs they will find through their lives, the only thing to do is talk to one another and figure out what we can do to help the situation, as neighbors, as communities, because the government has used up it's chances to help. And as liberal I hate to say it, but it didn't do an outstanding job.