If there is one thing my long-suffering editor really likes, it is when I dive into abstruse historical facts and ideas, the more obscure the better (Ed: umm… not so much…). Like, for example, the word “abstruse” that you just read. It means vague, unclear, ambiguous and murky. I tossed it in because I really do like abstruse historical matters, especially when they involve governance. Like the question, what should government do?

And if you are like me (Ed: highly unlikely), you often find yourselves diving into the Federalist Papers, that brilliant set of essays written mostly by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, crafted to convince the good people of the new American nation that the proposed constitution was a good idea. You likely have thoughts pop into your head like, “wow, that’s right out of Fed 65,” or “I bet Fed 78 explains that act of government.” I guess it is possible I’m just a nerd, but I digress.

The proper role of government at all levels is an ongoing issue for all Americans, whether they are active participants or merely watching from the sidelines. What government can, should, or ought to do is debated in your city hall, the State Capitol and in DC. There is no single correct answer, and what Americans expect out of government varies by issue, time and situation.

Which, of course, brings me to garbage trucks…

When I was a kid growing up in the ’60s in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I recall seeing the weekly trash guys come to pick up our trash every week. I even have a clear memory of them walking up the driveway to get the cans by the back door, because back then, no one put their cans by the street. Such collections were normal and seemed quite reasonable. 

I thought of those hard working men those many decades ago when I read a recent story in the Gazette. In that story, we learned about a brand-new trash collecting company being created here in Colorado Springs, to compete with four other companies offering the same service. As a capitalist, I am pleased to see new startups. Small businesses provide the overwhelming portion of job growth in our country, and I wish the new venture success.

That said, recalling my youth, I cannot help but wonder why the city of Colorado Springs isn’t providing trash service like my old hometown did when I was growing up? The simple answer, of course, is that people have different assumptions about governmental services based on where they grew up and what they are used to. The role of government evolves over time along with the expectations of the people being governed. 

Madison, in Federalist 44, was clear what people should be able to expect from the federal government. He wrote: “No axiom is more clearly established in law, or in reason, than that wherever the end is required, the means are authorized.” So, if national defense is needed, the means of getting the country defended are legal. If we want, say, a highway system, the required laws and regulations needed to create said highway system are inherently appropriate and lawful.

And that seems to trickle down to state and local levels. While the good people of Ann Arbor may well be used to city-operated trash collection, the people in Colorado Springs have no such expectation. Residents of my former home may well feel entitled to trash collection as part of their local taxes paid, while people out west likely have no such expectation.

So, what is correct in terms of what the government, at any level, should provide? Well, that depends. People have quite different views on what is a “right” and what is something extra. Thanks to Thomas Jefferson’s work on public education, today most Americans feel the government should provide basic K-12 education, rather than have private schools alone providing that service. So, our tradition of public education seems, well, normal to us, much as city-owned trash collection seemed normal to me back in Ann Arbor. 

But, to pick a completely random example, opinions on government-based health care vary wildly. I myself think health care is a right, and I do not think you should go bankrupt if you break your leg. Roughly two thirds of bankruptcies in this country are tied to medical issues, and that seems nuts to me (and, basically, to the rest of the developed nations of the world), but as we didn’t grow up with government-based health care, we Americans often don’t see that as a core governmental function. 

I cannot help but wonder what things might look like today if Jefferson had had a passion about public health care in addition to public education. We would be very different today, I suspect. So, whether we are talking about trash collection of heart surgery, Americans have very different expectations at to the role of government. I wish the new trash company the best of luck, and I hope they provide their workers with good health care.  That will have to do until we change how we think about governmental services.