The Social MarketPlace

     If there is one lesson to be learned from the several decades of liberal Democrat control of Congress, is that a consistent and simple marketing strategy for the Social MarketPlace (SoMP) sells (or buys) votes.   Anyone who wishes to fix the MESS that has been left behind by decades of liberalism's big government Social MarketPlace must be able to to clearly articulate a viable alternative to the social benefits and activities of the big government Social MarketPlace.  Fundamental to such an understanding is to have a clear picture of current SoMP and it possible alternatives. The table below represents the Social MarketPlace for Education, Health Care and Pensions/Social Security.  The size of the letters indicate of the degree of control or involvement each player in our society has over that particular element of the Social MarketPlace.

    As one can see (with the exception of widgets) our nation's SoMP is currently weighted heavily towards Big Government control of the SoMP.  When our nation was formed up to the early 1900s, our nation's social market place was generally organized and weighted towards the small government model (widgets), with little if any contribution by the federal government in any aspect of the SoMP.  One can make a valid point that this historical small government model lacked proper policies to promote individual responsibility for the general welfare of of all members of our society.   In the last half of this century, a well intentioned, but misguided push towards big government and socialism has shifted virtually all of the responsibility from individuals to various other agents in society.  The primary goal or benefit of this design of the SoMP is an inclusive SoMP for the disadvantaged of some sort through federal legislation, federal programs or federal mandates of one sort or another.  In the case of education, the control still rests at the State level, but the trend continues towards centralization of the SoMP for education.   Sadly, the resulting entitlement and SoMP policies have also resulted in a the moral and fiscal decline of our society that can perhaps best be measured by our nation's 5 trillion dollar debt with over 13 trillion in unfunded future liabilities to the federally controlled entitlement SoMPs of Social Security and Medicare.

    As one shifts from policies that promote individual responsibility towards third party and/or centralized government responsibility of any aspect of the SoMP, it is human nature for the individual to pay less attention to their individual role and responsibilities in society.  At the same time, as control of the SoMP is centralized in big government, the distortions of special interest politics enter the picture to further distort the SoMP from smooth effective function.  This results in a SoMP that is full of distortions, inefficiencies and fraud of one sort or another.  Furthermore, as the SoMP is centralized, the revenue necessary to operate that aspect of the SoMP becomes more likely to produce an economic drag on the general welfare of the nation.  At the same time, individuals have less motivation to be personally responsible or fully productive since big government is taking care of them through the big government Somp.   

The Quest for Smaller Government   

     Conservatives (and/or libertarians) might as well take to attacking windmills so long as they continue to circle their wagons around the simplistic 'small government' mantra. As much as liberalism has failed to develop and maintain a fiscally and morally balanced SoMP, the 'small government' mantra needs to be recognized as a failed marketing plan. No one addicted to the opiate of big government socialism (or the power it gives politicians) will ever agree to give up their big government addiction.  While a principled position, the small government mantra is a simply not an effective political marketing plan for the masses.  It is too vague on specifics and leaves many thinking that small government means an expensive and elite social marketplace that only the rich can afford.

    How will a small government provide for education, social security and health care?  "Well, uh, duh, umm, we'll figure that out later..." might be the typical conservative reply.  For a proper answer, one must refer to the Preamble of our Constitution.  The federal government's proper role is to promote, not provide for the general welfare of the nation.  One can conclude that our federal government's role should be to promote (not necessarily provide) a vibrant, diverse and inclusive Social MarketPlace.

    Currently, few conservative (or libertarians) politicians have any recognizable tools to articulate such a message in their tool box.  To succeed in creating a smaller government, one must first have a viable, flexible recognizable SoMP marketing strategy promotes a functional, caring and vibrant Social MarketPlace that is inclusive of all members of our society. There is a vacuum at the leadership to develop and promote such a product.  One must recognize the need for the wildly independent and diverse conservative community to rally around a few catch words and common theme so that the message is passed on to as many people as possible.  

    The utter lack of a coherent SoMP marketing strategy only leads to conservatives to always being politically outflanked by incremental Big Government SoMP and the continued growth of Government.   If a Conservative SoMP were adopted and promoted, the big government SoMP would become just one of many viable alternatives in the Social MarketPlace for society's needs.  As political discourse and action is diversified towards the various opportunities that might be offered by a vibrant and diverse SoMP, one can finally might expect to move towards a smaller and more effective government whose role will be to oversee the SoMP rather than to provide it.   

     It should be noted that little of this vision of a vibrant SoMP is new.  As noted above, it's foundation is found in the Preamble of the Constitution.  The Constitution's foundation was built upon the premise that individual liberty and individual responsibility results in a just and fair society -- E Plurbus Unum (From Many One).  Yes, it takes great courage and faith to believe that promoting the goodness of responsible behavior in a free society will resolve society's social ills. Faith in our fellow man's behavior is the foundation of the conservative courage and faith our founding fathers had when they first set up our nation.  It is time to fully recognize that 'In God We Trust' is not merely a slogan on the coin of the realm, but it is one of the central principles of faith upon which our nation was founded.  Look not to government mandates and Government social programs as a solution to society's problems, but rather look to promoting an inclusive, vibrant and diverse Social MarketPlace for society's eventual salvation.