From the Government

How Governments Have Made Us Healthier, Wealthier, and Better Educated and Made Our Lives Safer and Fairer

How Governments Have Made Us
Healthier, Wealthier, and Better Educated
and Made Our Lives Safer and Fairer

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In 1986, President Ronald Reagan told a joke. “The nine most terrifying words in the English language,” he said, “are, I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” It was a good joke, and Reagan, a veteran performer, told it well.

But Reagan’s joke raises a question for us today: What HAS come from the government that helps us be healthier, more productive, and better educated . . . or makes our lives safer and fairer? This website will look for specific things local and state governments and the federal government have done to help most of us.

Some of these will be obvious, like national defense, fire protection, and the courts. Some, like the 30-year mortgage and nuclear waste disposal, may surprise you. (Well, whom did you think would assume the task of guarding highly dangerous materials that could threaten us for a thousand years?)

The point isn’t to defend all that governments have ever done but to add a little perspective to the cynical belief that government always favors insiders and, when it doesn’t, is inept or incompetent. In fact, you may be surprised as you read these entries to find governments are at work everywhere in your life, doing precisely the things you want them to do and doing them surprisingly well.

On a regular basis, we’ll add examples of government programs that have helped most of our citizens. The entries will explain why government was asked to do this work, how the programs were created, and describe the results. We’ll have links so you can dig deeper for yourself. In each case, we’ll tell you which governments—local, state or federal—deserve the credit. (You may be surprised in some cases at how mixed the credit is, which means that federalism really does work.)

Not convinced? Great. Click a link and read on . . .

Disaster Relief

You can learn a lot about government by studying disaster relief. You can see how federalism works, and why it sometimes doesn’t. You can learn about scale and proximity. You can see why best practices are important in crises. Finally, you’ll learn why professionalism, focus, and good management are as necessary for government as they are for business.

Americans with Disabilities Act

No law before or since has changed the built environment as much as the Americans with Disabilities Act and yet done so in ways so subtle as to be unnoticed by most. But if you are in a wheelchair—or are pushing a stroller or dragging wheeled luggage—you’ve benefited from its changes, which make America a fairer and more accessible place for millions of adults and children.

Civil Rights and Voting Rights

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 demolished segregation in the South and took steps toward righting the terrible wrongs visited on African Americans. For these reasons, we should give thanks to the federal government. But these two laws also offer us important lessons today about why and how governments take historic actions—and how government actions can remove barriers to changed hearts.

Farmers Markets

Farmers markets have caught on in big cities since the 1970s, and a major reason is that governments have subsidized and facilitated their growth. Why? Because farmers markets create “positive externalities,” benefits that are much greater than their costs. They bring neighborhoods together, improve health, and make city life more affordable and enjoyable. And they’re another way government improves our lives.

Vocational Education

Every state has some form of vocational education, which is often called career and technical education. But this vital public service suffers from too many providers and not enough supply. This is a casebook example of how government could do a better job, if a leader would step forward. And it may be that only the federal government could play that leading role, as it did in the late 1800s in shaping American colleges and universities.

Public Libraries

The principles behind public libraries—that they are open to any resident’s use, lend books for free, and be supported by taxes—were considered outlandish to most Americans in the mid-1800s. But an incredible act of philanthropy in 1883 changed how people thought about libraries, and local governments seized the opportunity to build and support these institutions. Today going to the library is twice as popular as attending sporting events. For these places of learning, you can thank both philanthropy and government. But mostly government.

Building Codes and Inspections

Building codes show us how governments make our lives safer while reducing costs for everyone. They do so one construction project or remodeling at a time, so their impact is nearly invisible. Until, that is, you look at statistics on fire safety, energy usage, or water consumption over time, where you can see that government has made enormous progress but done it quietly, steadfastly, at scale, and often in collaborative ways.

Elevator Inspections

It’s a small but important way state and local governments make your life safer: They inspect elevators. Actually, though, this is not a small task because there are 900,000 elevators in America, making them the nation’s most common form of public conveyance. A century ago, when governments got into the business of inspecting them, elevators had frequent and horrifying accidents. They don’t now, and you can give some of the credit to the governments that inspect them.

National Defense

Nearly everything about America’s armed forces has been debated since 1776, from the mission and size of the military to which governments should have responsibility for fielding and supporting an army and navy. Some of those debates were resolved by the Constitution, others by the experience of World War II. But from the earliest days until today, Americans have agreed that our armed forces should be under civilian command . . . and provided solely by government.

Driver’s Licenses

Nearly 228 million Americans have a driver’s license. They are legally required for driving a car, of course. But they are also the most commonly used form of identification, accepted for everything from boarding planes to cashing checks. How did state governments get in the business of testing and licensing drivers? Why not local governments or the federal government—or, for that matter, private companies? It’s a story of law, history, scale, and role.