What Does “More Freedom, Less Government” Mean For Oregonians Today?

Credit: Albert Bierstadt 1869 painting “The Oregon Trail”

When pioneers arrived in Oregon they had total responsibility for their food, housing, health, education and everything else. There was very little government.

One of Nike co-founder Phil Knight’s college professors put it this way: “The cowards never started, and the weak die along the way – that leaves us.”

For the survivors, the end of the Oregon Trail meant living in a land of freedom with limitless opportunity. Many possibilities and little pessimism – with no safe spaces or government housing projects.

Somewhere along the line, we lost that pioneer spirit that overcame challenges and sought opportunity wherever it could be found. Oregonians instinctually knew that better living comes from personal freedom, hard work and limited government.

What does “More freedom” mean?

Freedom means the ability to do what you want to do at your expense as long as you don’t hurt someone else or take their property. The other part of freedom is taking personal responsibility for what you do. I think of it as self-government under God’s law: Ten Commandments rather than 10,000 laws and 100,000 regulations enforced and implemented by millions of state and federal employees.

More freedom means more decisions are made by families and businesses rather than by government mandates.

More freedom means college students may rack up student loan debt but need to take responsibility to pay it off. More freedom means parents can choose the best educational option with their tax dollars.

More freedom means keeping more of your paycheck because the federal, state and local governments take less of your paycheck.

More freedom means it’s easy to launch a business – but don’t expect a bailout if your business fails. You take the risks and reap the rewards when successful and pay the price when the business fails.

What about less government?

Less government means fewer laws, regulations, mandates and restrictions that prevent you from doing what you want to do.

Less government means most decisions are made at the state level rather than the federal level. What works for the state of New York may not work for Oregon.

Less government means more decisions are made at the local level and less at the state level.

Less government for our local public schools happens when the Oregon Department of Education stops mandating policies and begins offering suggestions.

Less government means land-use decisions are made at the county level rather than in Salem. Harney County, with 7,495 people and geographically bigger than six states, is subject to the same land-use laws restricting so-called suburban sprawl in Multnomah County. Seriously, do we have any suburban sprawl in Harney County?

No, but we have a lack of affordable homes and apartments everywhere in Oregon despite thousands of square miles of unused land. More freedom to build homes and fewer restrictions on land use would result in better living for Oregonians – and fewer of our neighbors fleeing to red states that offer lower housing costs.

Less government doesn’t mean no government. We need government to punish criminals for hurting people and stealing their property. Can the government provide services better and cheaper than businesses and nonprofit organizations? Perhaps in some contexts, but government programs should be judged on results not good intentions or dollars spent.

At every election, let’s remember that we cannot tax, borrow, regulate, mandate and spend our way to prosperity. The results of big government speak for themselves. Let us work to make Oregon free and great again!

Remember these words to live by: More freedom. Less government. Better living.

Richard Emmons is the publisher and editor of the Oregon Eagle.