President Obama’s inauguration speech of course attracted huge interest. And intense analysis.

See eg this breakdown of how often he used the words I, You, They and We.

And this subtle look at it from the point of view of Greek rhetoric, pointing out pathos, bathos, logos and even anaphora ("the repetition of words at the start of neighboring clauses").

On the substance, I liked some lines for their sheer American-ness – ideas shared by Democrats and Republicans alike, which are so hard to hear in Europe:

… greatness is never a given.  It must be earned. 

Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less.  It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those that prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. 

Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor — who have carried us up the long rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

Greatness. What a elitist notion. First in that list? Risk-takers. Quite right too.

This is nice:

But those values upon which our success depends — honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old.  These things are true.  They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.

Deftly put:

To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.  (Applause.)

On the other hand, this:

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. 

Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward.  Where the answer is no, programs will end. 

And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

The very idea! Ending state programmes which do not work!

Try stopping the funding of vast banners adorning EU buildings in Brussels proclaiming the glories of the EU, such as Happy New Year greetings in all the EU languages, many stories tall. Who gets the lucrative contract to produce these fatuous things? Why are they in the budget line at all?

The problem is that President Obama is wrong. We do need to keep asking whether government is too big or too small.

Because if government gets beyond a certain scale it stops working well. Some tipping-point effect is surely at work:

I think a threshold or tipping point exists in the ratio between the political power of those who pay taxes and those who consume taxes directly. After that tipping point is reached, those who pay taxes become the economic slaves of those who consume taxes…

… California has ~2.3 million unionized government workers and ~18.6 million civilians. With so many people organized with a laser-like focus on increasing taxes and spending, the private working citizens of California find it nearly impossible to prevent government workers from voting their own paychecks.

In effect, government workers have hijacked democracy. Instead of state employees working for the people, the people now work for the state employees. As far as the state government is concerned, people in the private sector work merely so that they can be taxed for the benefit of the tax consumers. They’ve entered a condition not unlike like that of pre-industrial serfs.

This is the issue for the coming years. And for all his charm and eloquence is President Obama likely to find himself on the wrong side of it?