The US government is massive in terms of number of people it employs, so do we mean just less taxes and to leave more to the private sector? Like private energy, water, sewage, garbage, shorelines, parks, hospitals, military, schools, etc. ?
Or do we mean overall we need less institutions with less people employed, less judges, less senators, less mayors, less military personnel, less civil servants, representatives, police, firefighters, etc. ?
For me personally, I wouldn't say "smaller is safer", I'd say that each employed individual should have restrictions on its term length and responsibility/authority and better accountability.
It means the less there is, the less can be exploited.
> Like private energy, water, sewage, garbage, shorelines, parks, hospitals, military, schools, etc.
Many of those things are already private, for most people.
> I wouldn't say "smaller is safer"
Most people wouldn't.
The US is still the second largest manufacturer in the world and broke it's own record in adjusted dollars for production in 2018. Pandemic aside, the US has never been more productive.
Your sentence about hostility to government is spot on, I think, and brings to mind that old Bastiat quote asking if government officials are, "made of finer clay."