--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For a generation and more, the government…" description: "\"For a generation and more, the government has sought to meet our needs by multiplying its bureaucracy. Washington has taken too much in taxes from Main..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ac/george-mcgovern-3955_bureaucracy_for-a-generation-and-more-the-government_2892217.jpg" --- # For a generation and more, the government has sought to… ![“For a generation and more, the government has sought to meet our needs by multiplying its bureaucracy. Washington has taken too much in taxes from Main Street, and Main Street has received too little in return. It is not necessary to centralize power in order to solve our problems.” quote by George McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ac/george-mcgovern-3955_bureaucracy_for-a-generation-and-more-the-government_2892217.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ac/george-mcgovern-3955_bureaucracy_for-a-generation-and-more-the-government_2892217.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ac/george-mcgovern-3955_bureaucracy_for-a-generation-and-more-the-government_2892217.jpg) > “For a generation and more, the government has sought to meet our needs by multiplying its bureaucracy. Washington has taken too much in taxes from Main Street, and Main Street has received too little in return. It is not necessary to centralize power in order to solve our problems.” [George McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mcgovern/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Government expansion has led to high taxes and low returns for citizens, suggesting decentralization may solve problems more efficiently. **In simple terms:** Big government takes taxes, gives little back. Key Takeaway Consider smaller, local solutions. Themes politics taxation centralization efficiency Mood critical optimistic Type political analytical When to use this quote - policy debate - tax reform - grassroots activism Key Concepts public policy fiscal responsibility government size Questions to Reflect On - What services could be better managed locally? - How to balance national standards with local autonomy? A Different Perspective Centralization can create bureaucracy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bureaucracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucracy/) [Bureaucracy Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucracy-washington-2629305/) [Centralize Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/centralize-power-2608751/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Government Sought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-sought-4068201/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Main street](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/main-street/) [Multiplying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/multiplying/) [Multiplying Bureaucracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/multiplying-bureaucracy-4068203/) [Necessary Centralize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessary-centralize-4068202/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return/) [Solve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solve/) [Streets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streets/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Taxes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taxes/) [Too much](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-much/) ## Related quotes > [I'm against big bureaucracy in Washington making health care decisions. I just have an aversion to bureaucrats. But it's not just government bureaucrats. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-bauer/i-m-against-big-bureaucracy-in-washington-making-health-care/) [Gary Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-bauer/) > [At the end of a century that has seen the evils of communism, Nazism and other modern tyrannies, the impulse to centralize power remains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/at-the-end-of-a-century-that-has-seen-the-evils-of-communism-nazism/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [Putin needs strong moves to keep the country as one. There is some criticism that he is centralizing power, but in Russia, if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-karpov/putin-needs-strong-moves-to-keep-the-country-as-one-there-is-some/) [Anatoly Karpov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-karpov/) > [If I were a Democrat, I'd centralize power in Washington by nationalizing our elections. 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Like these tiny fire ants we used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/but-hope-got-in-no-matter-how-hard-and-fast-i-tried-to-stomp-it-out/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [People who deal with life generously and large-heartedly go on multiplying relationships to the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-benson/people-who-deal-with-life-generously-and-large-heartedly-go-on/) [A. C. Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-benson/) > [Futurologists have been multiplying like flies since the day Herman Kahn made Cassandra's profession "scientific," yet somehow not one of them has come out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-lem/futurologists-have-been-multiplying-like-flies-since-the-day-herman/) [Stanislaw Lem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-lem/) > [...This large and expensive stock of drugs will be unnecessary. By...doses of...medicines...multiplying...combining them properly, 20 to 30 articles, aided by the common resources of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-rush/this-large-and-expensive-stock-of-drugs-will-be-unnecessary-by-doses/) [Benjamin Rush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-rush/) > [If you depend on your company to take care of your retirement, your future income will be divided by five. Take care of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/if-you-depend-on-your-company-to-take-care-of-your-retirement-your/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [The Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/the-islamic-conquest-of-india-is-probably-the-bloodiest-story-in/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [O thou beautiful And unimaginable ether! and Ye multiplying masses of increased And still increasing lights! what are ye? what Is this blue wilderness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/o-thou-beautiful-and-unimaginable-ether-and-ye-multiplying-masses-of/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [Probably the greatest single obstacle to the progress and happiness of the American people lies in the willingness of so many men to invest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-rockefeller/probably-the-greatest-single-obstacle-to-the-progress-and-happiness/) [John D. Rockefeller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-rockefeller/) ## More by George McGovern > [Every Senator in this Chamber is partly responsible for sending 50,000 young Americans to an early grave. This Chamber reeks of blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mcgovern/every-senator-in-this-chamber-is-partly-responsible-for-sending-50/) [George McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mcgovern/) > [I always thought of myself as a moderate liberal, a fighter for peace and justice. I never thought of myself as being all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mcgovern/i-always-thought-of-myself-as-a-moderate-liberal-a-fighter-for-peace/) [George McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mcgovern/) > [I was tired. I hadn't slept eight hours in two, three years. I lived on four, five hours of sleep. 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It means standing up for people who have been kept down ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mcgovern/above-all-being-a-democrat-means-having-compassion-for-others-it/) [George McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mcgovern/) > [I am fed up with a system which busts the pot smoker and lets the big dope racketeer go free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mcgovern/i-am-fed-up-with-a-system-which-busts-the-pot-smoker-and-lets-the-big/) [George McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mcgovern/) > [To those who charge that liberalism has been tried and found wanting, I answer that the failure is not in the idea, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mcgovern/to-those-who-charge-that-liberalism-has-been-tried-and-found-wanting/) [George McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mcgovern/) > [When I was a youngster growing up in South Dakota, we never referred to the national debt, it was always referred to as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mcgovern/when-i-was-a-youngster-growing-up-in-south-dakota-we-never-referred/) [George McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mcgovern/) > [ I still love to go back to Mitchell \[his home town\] and wander up and down those streets. 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