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Yes,

Lincoln ended the republic where the states had any rights/power. From Lincoln on, it was the federal government that had the final word on everything they decided to have a word on.

However, the big social state started under FDR.

http://www.justfacts.com/images/socialspending/welfare-full.png

Socialism was a popular idea, so was national socialism in the past, even here in the US, something many folks want to ignore or not see. The commie movement was actually very large, much larger than most people can imagine today, and that is in part because the commie movement had many different faces (mere party membership does not do it justice), but in Chicago alone you had something like 310 various events over a 5 year period: https://depts.washington.edu/moves/CP_chicago-data.shtml

You had Keynesian economic theory floating out there, Hitler was turning things around in Germany at lightning speeds and showing off their vast accomplishments, while we were still on our ass economically. Many folks were looking over there and asking why we aren’t we doing the same? People like Ford, Lindbergh... you had a lot of elites on board with these ideas.

***FDR tapped into the spirit of the times and started the big American experiment with socialism.***

Since then, the beast which was created simply grew and grew.

FDR and the creation of Social Security: https://www.ssa.gov/history/50ed.html

FDR and the massive governmental changes: https://www.hillsdale.edu/educational-outreach/free-market-forum/2006-archive/fdr-and-the-irs/ https://apps.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/student/whys_thm02_les05.jsp

FDR was also one of the first that weaponized the IRS and at the time new FBI. He used them to go after his opponents.

The problem with this all powerful centralized government is that people are NOT inherently good. That is on both sides of the equation, may it be people that will exploit the system, or leaders that will exploit governmental powers for their own benefit.

Furthermore, government does not produce wealth, it merely redistributes it (cliche but true!). The EPA, TSA, FBI, DEA... none of them produce anything tangible anyone would call “wealth,” and the wealth people do get from the government Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, grants for medications... is other peoples money which gets shuffled around. In fact, government is largely in the business of destroying wealth may that be through BS environmental policies, laws that ban the use of lands, restricting the movement of goods and services, growing of plants, selling of certain products... all of course “for the greater good” which is almost always some security/safety argument. If you want a wealthy society (materialistically speaking), keep government small. If you like your freedom, keep government small.

However, today we are in an era where even many so called conservatives are big government folk, example Bush W. The difference between the Republicans and Democrats is who the net beneficiary is if they get elected, but both are buying voters and paying their party and campaign contributors (the US oligarchs) back once in power. Very few truly advocate for a more free society and market place, where government is small. Doing that puts a big target on you and even the government apparatus will be your enemy.

The big mega corporations and oligarchs are actually mostly big government folk. This isn’t the US in the 1800s. If you look at many of the top US firms, the mega rich in this country today, it is through government that they amassed their wealth, may that be subsidies (a lot of the green trash), direct government spending on procurement (much of the defense sector), or regulations which require people to buy health insurance, new refrigerants, vaccines, an Epipen... Government has become the mechanism through which many of the established and rich (who have influence) get richer... example Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk...

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/tc-energy-terminates-keystone-xl-pipeline-project-2021-06-09/ (You need to be worth billions and have real influence to make stuff like this happen. Buffet keeps raking in the cash)