The social contract that composes the very essence of government in our society is one of necessity―to protect the life, liberty and property of its people.

Necessity only pertains to what would otherwise be endangered. It doesn’t specifically relate to budgetary issues or employment guarantees. Simply agreeing on what comprises a good or right-sized government, often leads to tension and disagreement.  My understanding, however, is that a proper government is simply one that protects the peaceful actions and interactions of people within their right to live as they choose.

Regarding California, a relative bastion of strong liberal values and practices, questions of government size and functionality are quickly coming back to the discussion table, as state-wide economic woes worsen.

According to liberal demographer Joel Kotkin, over four million people who have come here in the past few decades for economic reasons have left.

This is a result of restrictive regulatory policies and rising living costs especially around coastal and highly developed areas. These political trends promote the success of the very rich and the very poor while driving small business owners, young families and tax-producers out of the state.

This is big government at work, allowing many poor decisions to be made at the cost of billions of dollars of tax-payer money for unnecessary spending.

California has long been known to be a progressive and open place, for both cultural and economic growth. Unfortunately, government expansion along with the state enforcing its will onto individuals is a gross violation of our sacred notion of liberty.

Furthermore, big government threatens prosperity by wasting resources and redirecting the funds of its people towards areas of development that may not have a majority’s benefit in mind.

Moral enforcement by big government also comes under question, as it makes people believe that its exercised might makes right under the guise of democratic action. This conflicts with what a right-sized and properly functioning government should do. They should simply seek to rightfully preserve the freedom of individuals to act as they think best to promote morality.

The state and the nation as a whole are losing older values within the vortex that is becoming utterly reliant on a monstrous structure to regulate life.

Instead of allowing the people to live and progress on their own, big government is taking away from our children, our solvency and our future.

To be clear, I’m not advocating for no government, but rather, for one that covers all the critical services while allowing the greatest freedom for choosing one’s life without sacrificing safety and harmony. Will this ever be the reality? Only our politicians may ever really know.