This past weekend, I had an interesting conversation with Stephanie, my awesome co-host of the “Unapologetically Outspoken Podcast” (which, by the way, shameless plug opportunity… if you haven’t checked it out yet, we are on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Amazon Music, and we air new episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday…). We were discussing how growing government overreach is destroying America, and she sent me a short, 5-minute Prager U video called “The Bigger the Government… (The Smaller the Citizen).” One of the primary concepts Dennis Prager discusses in the video is that as government control increases, people start to do less and less for both themselves and each other. The resulting impact is a decline in peoples’ moral character and the weakening of society.

This video really struck a chord with me because even though it’s clear there has been a significant and steady decline in the moral fiber of America, I have mostly looked at this from the angle of current societal issues (things like cancel culture, woke policies, social media influence, increased lawlessness and leniency on crime, etc.). Working as a law enforcement officer for almost 15 years, I frequently encountered people at their lowest, and I saw the worst of humanity on a fairly regular basis. However, I didn’t fully make the connection between government control and the way people treat each other until I watched this video. It was like a lightbulb suddenly went off over my head.

I started doing some research into this topic, and I quickly realized that the historical impact of increasing government involvement in the lives of Americans is actually pretty fucking significant and totally relevant to the lack of social morality we are currently facing in America today. Everything circles back to people no longer needing to be socially responsible for each other or vested in mutual success as a community because we have developed the expectation that federal, state, and local government should be taking care of us instead.

During my research, I came across an article titled, “The Rise of Government and the Decline of Morality” by James A. Dorn. Written in 1996, the essay discusses how immigrants who came to America at the turn of the century were so successful because there was no government welfare system in place. Instead, people had to rely on strong family and social bonds for survival. One of the examples Dorn writes about is a 1907 housing report on Polish immigrants in Baltimore, Maryland. The report details the bleak living conditions of poor working-class families, with 6-8 people typically residing together in overcrowded conditions in small one-bedroom apartments.

By 1929 (just over 20 years later), another report showed that 60% of Polish families in Baltimore were homeowners, without the aid of any government assistance. They were able to do this because community members had pooled their resources to create building and loan associations in order to help each other become successful. However, after the inception of federal and state welfare systems, and trillions of government dollars spent on anti-poverty programs ($5 trillion as of 1996… what the fuck is that number at now???), this same neighborhood in Baltimore became poverty-stricken, crime-infested, and dangerous. The author explains that one of the primary reasons for this is because once people became dependent on the government, self-reliance fell by the wayside, and people lost respect for each other.

Essentially, the growth of increasing government control in America throughout the years has resulted in undermining the traditional values of responsibility to self and others, as well as the need for a solid work ethic to achieve success. Over time, this loss of respect for humanity and community has translated into a loss of respect for property, laws, and oftentimes human life, leading to the decline of societal values, a weakened population, and a significant rise in all of the crazy bullshit that is prevalent in today’s society.

I know this article sounds like a college essay on the devaluation of morality, social decency, and integrity, but clearly I am not the only one who feels like our country is falling apart. According to a recent Gallup poll (as of June 2022), a record high of 50% of Americans believe there is a lack of morality in the country, and 78% of those polled believe that the loss of morals in our country is getting increasingly worse.

The Prager U video really got me thinking about how this concept applies to my perspectives on freedom and the loss of patriotism in America. The way I see it, government overreach essentially robs people of both their personal power and their relationships within the community. When people don’t place value on having a strong work ethic or needing to come together as a community to get things accomplished in order to survive, they no longer have a vested interest in the outcome of their lives. This ultimately leads to complacency and the erosion of patriotism and liberty.

Instead of lifting people up, government intervention weakens people and smothers human potential. There is no need to work hard to achieve the American Dream when the government is giving people handouts designed to keep them in poverty or even at a stable, yet mediocre, standard of living. There is also minimal to no opportunity to achieve the American Dream when the government is taxing people to the point where they can never truly get ahead. In all of these circumstances, society is getting fucked by government overreach. What’s most disturbing is that the majority of Americans don’t understand the roots of why and how we are in this sad situation as a country. Admittedly, as I wrote in the beginning of this article, I didn’t even fully realize the fairly obvious connection between big government and how it influences human behavior until I watched the Prager U video. 

This begs the question, is America completely fucked? This is something I ask myself frequently, especially when our country has become so increasingly divided by political issues, to the point where we are no longer committed to the overall common good. Especially when taking into account all of the shit I saw as a cop, it would be easy for me to have a pessimistic and biased opinion. However, I have also come across so many incredible, hardworking, patriotic, strong, freedom-loving Americans who are willing to selflessly support and uplift their fellow citizens and neighbors.

I saw this firsthand when I lived in California and belonged to a local chapter of Soroptimist International, a volunteer organization dedicated to providing women and young girls with the opportunities and resources to help them achieve greater education and economic empowerment in support of their dreams. I also saw this firsthand as a law enforcement officer in Washington when community members participated in “Back the Blue” rallies and sent cards, letters, and donations of food to the police station during the 2020 “defund the police” riots and protests. And I see this almost every day living in a small town in rural Texas where strangers smile and wave at you when you drive by, store employees offer to carry your groceries out to your car, and neighbors are always willing to pitch in and lend a hand when you need something.

So, no, I don’t believe all hope is lost, and I don’t believe patriotism and liberty are dead. I just think we’ve gotten really fucking accustomed to allowing government to take an increasingly bigger role in our lives because it seems “easier.” And, in doing so, we’ve become a nation of weak little bitches. Like frogs slowly boiling in a pot, we’ve become comfortable with the changes in our environment over time that are actually killing our instincts for survival and success.

It is no secret that our current government “leadership” (if you can even call it that), is openly promoting a communist takeover of America. The loss of morality and community that has been occurring in our country over the past century is just taking us one step closer to this coming to fruition. There is a reason why our Founding Fathers believed that freedom, limited government, and individual responsibility were the cornerstones of establishing America. If we allow big government to continue to weaken and destroy our human potential, we truly are fucked.

Unapologetically Outspoken,

Tara M.