At a news conference in 1986, then-President Ronald Reagan quipped, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” Sadly, that is more true today than ever before. Not only does the government usually make worse whatever problem it is trying to solve — for example, many lament that “we declared war on poverty and poverty won” — government action tends to crowd out private initiative.

As Reagan cogently noted, “As government expands, liberty contracts.” When liberty contracts, people lose the sense that they are in control of their own lives. They lose the feeling that they need to take the initiative to care for and protect themselves. They come to believe that those basic duties are someone else’s responsibility.