Halting global warming. Obliterating inequality of conditions. Bringing peace to warring lands.

These were a few of the legacies President Barack Obama was supposed to leave behind after a change-hungry nation elected him in 2008. But six years later, it appears Obama’s legacy will instead be the shattering of progressive illusions about the beneficent virtue of centralized government.

For all the lofty platitudes progressives spout, the realization of their social, economic and political goals has always relied on a strong, centralized national government. It’s a kind of trump card that obviates the need for substantive political discourse.

The people are poor? A government program ought to help. The economy is ailing? Some government spending will do the trick. What’s that, you say? Our schools are failing? A little central planning will bring our students up to snuff.

Industrial reorganization, the amelioration of economic inequality, the mitigation of perceived environmental threats – all of these progressive dreams require first and foremost a powerful, singular arbiter of political power. But the great failure of the Obama administration, from the progressive perspective, at least, will invariably be showing the American people how centralized government tends to fail.

In the Fast and Furious gun-smuggling scandal and the Benghazi terrorist attack cover up, we saw how an administration that obsesses over optics and political points can control media narratives, spin messages and silence whistleblowers – all with a view to maintaining power. This administration’s firm control of information is truly reminiscent of Orwell’s “1984.”

Some of the failures show how centralized government can become a fearsome weapon targeting its own people. In the IRS scandal, we saw how a large, faceless bureaucracy can be brought to bear to punish political enemies and thwart political dissent, simultaneously protecting its own power.

But the IRS scandal also revealed another ugly side of the Leviathan, its lack of fairness. Many months later, and several crashed hard drives later, those culpable in such chilling corruption remain free. Does anyone really think those who abuse federal power will get punished?

The more popular scandals, however, will ultimately not be most devastating to the progressive ideal. What has been and will be most devastating to progressive political goals is the spectacular failure of centralized government to fix our problems.

The Affordable Care Act, with its bungled rollout, broken promises, and dizzying bureaucratic inanities, is a case study in big government gone wrong. Sure, individuals with pre-existing conditions can get coverage now. But the beneficial aspects of the law have been entirely consumed by the other 99 percent of it. In hindsight, millions of American’s still lack health insurance and premium costs are going up.

The Recovery Act, with its billions upon billions of centrally planned stimulus spending, was supposed to immediately jumpstart our economy with shovel-ready projects. Instead, billions were funneled to political allies vis-a?-vis companies that would eventually implode and enterprises that have rarely proved fruitful for Americans.

The small outbreak of Ebola is a non-partisan issue that has exposed the incompetence of federal government run amuck. Yes, there has been plenty of irrational fear of the virus itself. But the fear that our federal government is incapable of protecting its citizens is appearing more justified every day. And this fear is only exacerbated by a long list of very scary government failures.

The Obama administration’s handling of the Ebola situation is really just a climatic episode in the slow-motion train wreck of big government. When the history books are written, the Obama years will be formative – not for the positive transformation of America, but because they served as a catalyst for a nation reawakening to the realization that our hopes and prayers cannot ultimately rest in centralized government.

Peter Anania lives in Windham.

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