Opinion and Commentary by Samuel Strait I spent much of this past Saturday afternoon in the company of a group of local individuals that clearly feel local government in its current form is a larger problem than the issues that Del Norte County currently face. Could that be even remotely possible one might ask? How could local government possibly be a greater burden for local citizens than the benefits that they pronounce loudly to the world in this County are "vital" to its population's general welfare? One regularly offered response to that question from the group was a simple notion that when the cost of that government reaches a certain level, it begins to push those on the margins of society even here in this County over the edge of what is considered the base line of normal living. Poverty, homelessness and subsistence welfare is quite often the result in swelling numbers of that growing and costly government. Wealth and general security will protect many from an expanding government most of the time, but even wealth can be an illusion unable to completely protect individuals from the rapid increase in the cost of government on an individual's livelyhood. As the cost accelerates for "vital services" more and more citizens will be unable to keep up with the individual cost for those services that do not directly benefit them. It is at that point where what is "vital" may take on a new and unexpected meaning for those that have fallen over the edge of normalcy. Money to pay for increased property tax, increased sales tax on goods and services, or greater levels of personal income tax may seem relatively insignificant to most in a normal society, yet even a few dollars can change a person's lot in life to one of what is considered not normal. As government cost increases, so do the numbers of "regular" people tip over the edge of what is normal to that of unhoused, welfare, and dependence. Most in the halls of governance do not recognize the simple fact that government can produce this debilitating effect on the populations its meant to serve for their benefit, feeling that more has to equate to being "better". Historically this is rarely the case. Issues such as poverty, homelessness, crime, and the whole list of human conditions that governments have attempted to "solve" remain throughout the centuries of human existence as "problems" yet to be solved. Governments have strived vainly in the course of human history for solutions, often creating a growing number of those meant to be "helped" joining the ranks of the needy. Until those that seek office recognize their part in this tragedy and reduce the expanse of "vital" services to those that are absolutely necessary, the "necessary evil" will continue to be a negative burden on the lives of the governed. Even the most cursory examination of local government reveals a level of excess far beyond what most would believe to be a necessity in a properly functioning government, "vital" to the best interests of those that it is meant to serve. Local government was always meant to best serve those closest to those it is meant to serve. The State and Federal governments are not that and should be treated as "less than" important for those at the local level. This has clearly not become the case for those that currently serve our County's citizens. Grants, State and Federal dollars often do not help us here locally coming with a plethora of "conditions" that provide only temporary fixes in the immediacy and create further problems of cost down the road. It is precisely this kind of governance that has gotten us to the point that government has become "too" costly and "too" big. Because that has become the case, the continued need for an ever growing expense of government will become a burden that results in greater expansion of those no longer able to afford such cost. Homelessness, poverty, and growing ranks of unemployed and dependence is the result. Unsustainable in the future without the recognition that government cannot be the answer to all people for solutions to their problems. Local governments should be free to address only those necessary issues that benefit local citizens and not try to take on the "problems" of society in general. That should remain solely in the domain of an individual's responsibility in a properly functioning society. Local government needs to stop "tilting at windmills" and become a much reduced yet effective tool for local benefit which will remove many of the financial burdens that constrain individuals from returning to "normal" and responsible citizens.