Small

A mantra among Republican politicians is that they want government small. I agree. I want everything small.

I would prefer everything with tiny, not grandiose plans. Small neighbors, small businesses, small foreign countries, small dreams, small visions, small natural disasters. One of the ailments of the modern world is that an individual has remained small, as the rest of the environment supersized.

Whenever humans get involved in grandiosity, bad things happen. Individuals vanish into statistics. Actions become divorced from everyday common reality. With religions and social visions, with institutions of all types, it often seems that the bigger the idea or its implementation, the more horrific the outcome.

Unfortunately, big always wins. The essential problem with Republicans is that their view is too restricted. Without big government, all the other big players _ big business, big billionaires, big foreign countries, etc _ become the de facto big government. There seems to be no escape.

My big idea about small, therefore, becomes merely personal. Appreciate the small wonders in my life: health, property, family, existence. My house need not be as tacky as that of my neighbors. And the best thing I can do with all the big stuff around is to shrink down and avoid it as much as possible.