"Government works less efficiently when it begins to grow out of control and takes on more and more of the responsibilities that belong to the citizens"
About this Quote
The subtext is a critique of dependency framed as practicality. “Works less efficiently” sounds technocratic, almost managerial, but “out of control” is emotionally loaded, a phrase that conjures a body or machine gone feral. That pairing lets Ventura smuggle a moral argument (citizens should carry their own weight) through an administrative one (systems fail when overloaded). It’s rhetoric designed to make skepticism feel like common sense.
Context matters. Ventura rose as a third-party governor and celebrity-politician hybrid, thriving on distrust of both parties and on the idea that institutions quietly expand when people are exhausted, fearful, or simply tired of handling messiness themselves. Read against late-20th/early-21st century politics - welfare debates, the post-9/11 security state, and an ever-thickening administrative web - the quote taps a real anxiety: when government becomes the default solution, citizens risk becoming spectators of their own society. The kicker is that it implicates the voter as much as the state, which is exactly why it lands.
Quote Details
| Topic | Freedom |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Ventura, Jesse. (2026, January 16). Government works less efficiently when it begins to grow out of control and takes on more and more of the responsibilities that belong to the citizens. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/government-works-less-efficiently-when-it-begins-86304/
Chicago Style
Ventura, Jesse. "Government works less efficiently when it begins to grow out of control and takes on more and more of the responsibilities that belong to the citizens." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/government-works-less-efficiently-when-it-begins-86304/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Government works less efficiently when it begins to grow out of control and takes on more and more of the responsibilities that belong to the citizens." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/government-works-less-efficiently-when-it-begins-86304/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.




