The Ever Expanding Backpack of State

It strikes me that government is something like a backpack.

If you're planning to take an all-day hike, you'll want to take some essentials: a Swiss army knife, some snacks, a compass, and a few other things, depending on where you are and how long you'll be out.

But if you're only going to be out for a day, there's no need to bring a tent, sleeping bag, cooking gear, and waders (unless you're going fishing). That stuff would just weigh you down.

There's a sweet spot between carrying too little and too much, depending the nature of the trip and what the hiker is willing to risk lacking versus unneccessarily lugging around. Too little can leave you in a bind, while too much slows the hiker down and makes the journey less pleasant.

So too with government and the productive sector. The core functions are right there in the Constitution: national security, courts for adjudicating disputes, regulating money, preventing restrictions on intrastate trade, and so forth. The benefits far outweigh the burdens for these.

Corporate welfare, earmarks, and the criminalization of just about everything represent the dead weight. The benefits for the few special interests are dwarfed by the burdens for the rest of us.

You can also get too much of a good thing--like a hiker with 50 pounds of food or a government that maintains armaments far greater than necessary to ensure self-government and the protection of vital interests. And there's the grey area.

But as the government burden increases, the private (productive) sector strains more and more under the weight, its (metaphorical) steps slowing. Hong Kong becomes the United States, which becomes Germany, which becomes India, which becomes Zimbabwe, Haiti, or North Korea, each of which is in almost utter collapse.

No wonder that the markets continue to tank: accumulating burdens with no prospects of relief in sight.