No Government?
I keep hearing that Government is not the solution. Consider this, maybe it is. The government does things that we as individuals don’t want to do or can’t do.
Yes, there is waste in government, but look at all the waste in your own life. How much garbage do you produce? How much have you purchased that has never been used and sits in a garage or a closet. It is human nature to waste and justify it.
I have to admit that it feels pretty good to be able to leave my driveway and drive on thousands of miles of roads that government paid for. It feels good knowing that I can pick up my phone and dial three numbers and have a government paid public safety person respond to my concerns. It feels good that I can look at pictures from the government funded Hubble Telescope. It is nice not having beggars come to my door. It’s nice knowing that no matter how dire someone’s financial situation is, their children will have opportunities to be fed, clothed and educated. It feels good that there are standard measurements from coast to coast.
I can point out as many failures of government, but we learn from things that fail, at least I hope we learn. So to you anti tax/anti government people out there, what services that our government supplies you are you willing to give up? I don’t mean services that are provided to others that you don’t use or support, I mean the services provided to you that you do use.
For those of you Tea Party participants if you got all your tax money back would you maintain the pavement in the front of your property? Would you help feed, clothe and educate your down on their luck neighbors children? Can I call you to investigate a crime at my house? Probably not. More than likely you will spend it on future land-fill items that will not benefit anyone but yourself and more than likely it won't even benefit you.
posted by The Guy Who Writes This at 4:00 AM
20 Comments:
You make some good points here.
I was gonna say that !!! LOL but true, good point guy.
loopy
Wow, thanks for writing this. :)
I’m talking about a different government (and the party in power certainly isn’t my first choice) but without it? Chaos and the pursuit of selfish interests. Government may not be the perfect solution and I will defend my right to criticize it but no other reasonable alternative exists. (But, geez, these taxes hurt...)
I'm constantly amazed that we have a government, flawed though it may be, that can manage to do what it does - the sheer size of our country is enormous. Other countries, such as the then USSR did not do so well.
These tea party people are part of the government. Everbody seems to forget It's a government by the people, for the people. And if we think government cost to much, shouldn't we say something? Why does Ca. and NY the two states with the highest tax rates, now have the highest defeceits?
Our government, as it is, is a fairly good one. Like a great apple tree, we tend it and it bears fruit for us. But like any tree, it needs pruning now and then to remove the infected and dead spots. The problem with that being is the dead and infected spots are way at the top of the tree and we don't have a ladder tall enough to reach them. If we had a way to remove those rotten apples, the cider would be so much more palatable. And thus concludes our parable for the day.
Donna Loopy and Auntie, Thanks.
Beth, Canadian or US?
Lori, there is always potential for failure, yet we've kept it together through several disasters and I'm sure more will come.
Not a Groopie, It seems that the Tea Party was the brain child of disenchanted and bitter Republicans and Fox News. Where were they during the wasteful eight years of the last administration. They were writing the checks. 200 people at the Post Office in a county of 30+ thousand people equates to about one half of one percent of the population. Take away the Republicans and you had maybe ten people of other affiliations. As for New York and California, they are the two most populous states that have a greater percentage of people to service. These are the two states that offer the greatest opportunity for those looking to better themselves, be it farm work in Ca or industry in NY. Large populations require large infrastructure. If you were looking to start over would you have a better chance in Ca or NY, or do you think you could do better in North Dakota?
Darev, This is a great country because we have all of it, the good and the corrupt. It all balances out. Waste is bad, but it is dealt with eventually but then it comes back in another form. It's the nature of the beast.
>>>The government does things that we as individuals don’t want to do or can’t do. <<<
I thought that was what all of those illegal aleans were so good for.
>>>I have to admit that it feels pretty good to be able to leave my driveway and drive on thousands of miles of roads that government paid for<<<
The government DID NOT pay for the road. Tax payers did.
>>> It feels good knowing that I can pick up my phone and dial three numbers and have a government paid public safety person respond to my concerns. It feels good that I can look at pictures from the government funded Hubble Telescope. It is nice not having beggars come to my door. It’s nice knowing that no matter how dire someone’s financial situation is, their children will have opportunities to be fed, clothed and educated. It feels good that there are standard measurements from coast to coast.<<<
You paid, I paid, anyone that works paid for these things; not government.
You are in error in your notion that good 'ol Uncle Sam openes up his own personal wallet and funds these things out of the goodness of his heart, God bless him anyway.
By the way every man, woeman and child in America is in debt about $6000.00 thanks to good 'ol Uncle Sam's wastefulness.
Gearhead, If give you money and you buy something with it, you bought it not me. I may have made it possible for you to buy it. Individuals have very little choice what happens after they give it to the GAO. Though there is waste, it goes mostly for the betterment of our society. We are still a pretty amazing country, warts and all.
Anyone who would have no government should take a good long look at Somalia.
Excellent points everyone--except Gearhead. Taxpayers do fund these necessities, but government is the only means we have to facilitate those payments and expenditures. Flawed though it is--it's better than complete chaos. I am retired and still had to fork over a pretty hefty (for me) amount to the state. Even though I grumbled and waited until the last minute, I am grateful for all I receive in return. I found it amusing that the Teaparty folks were enraged at this late date. Where was their outrage when Bush was running up the debt funding the Iraq debacle, and allowing the financial system to run amok?
Well, the good news is that tea sales went up the past month. ;-)
Bad news--almost all of our tea is imported.
When did the financial system "run amok"? Never. It followed the regulations government laid out.
As to your question, Guy, about what services (I use) that I'd give up ... it's a red herring.
Do I personally use the National Endowment for the Arts? No. But my taxes pay for it. So I say, since it's unConstitutional, it should be eliminated.
Same with EVERY other federal government programs/agencies that isn't one of the 18 specific powers granted to Congress by the Constitution ... thus reserved for the States and People, per the 10th Amendment.
Rich, Excellent point!
JB, and I know you go far beyond that which a good citizen contributes to the betterment of the community, especially when you made those two generous donations back when we were helping out with the rescue horses. You get what giving and community building is all about.
Rich, are there any tea plantations on the main land?
Walt, are you forgetting about all the subsidized food you eat, the roads you drive, the bridges you cross, NORAD, the NOAA. If all government support were removed from the things that touch your life on a daily basis you will have little information and you would spend probably four times the amount you presently spend in taxes on your basics. Think of what unsubsidized transportation costs.
The only tea production I've been able to find is in South Carolina at The Charleston Tea Plantation now owned by Bigelow. It's a grand total of 127 acres, but I haven't found any information on the yield. I suspect it's less than a drop in a bucket compared to what comes from the major production areas of China, India, Sri Lanka and Africa--China and India alone produce 50% of the world's tea. There's some tea grown in Hawaii, too, but it is on a very small scale as is that grown in many boutique farms.
Walt, are you forgetting about all the subsidized food you eatSubsidized food vs subsidies for NOT growing food. Do away with them both.
the roads you drive, the bridges you cross"post roads" are Constitutional. Meaning roads for military purposes ... which was how the interstate system was originally sold.
NORADThe military is Constitutional. It is one of the basic duties of gov't, in fact.
the NOAA.Again, part of the gov'ts duties to protect the public.
I should note that there IS a vast difference between the gov'ts duty to protect the public ... and the modern notion that individuals deserve gov't protection.
Guy Smiley said:
>>>Gearhead, If give you money and you buy something with it, you bought it not me. <<<
Unlike you, I do not GIVE my money to the government. They TAKE it.
And whenever they can find an avenue to increase their self serving , taking or increasing of the siphoning of my money, they will do so irrespective of my wishes.
They spend MY MONEY on programs that I do not support.
Roads, police, fire, etc, no argument. All of us are fine with that.
Much beyond that is waste, anyway you cut it.
How may trillions will be spent on the global warming superstition before it is finally exposed as a total hoax proposed by guilty white guys as a new revenue stream?
You are not pressing the , "America, love it or leave it" philosophy, are you Archie?
:-;
:-0
Walt, I believe roads were intended for postal purposes: "To establish post offices and post roads" --Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution. I don't see anything in there about roads for military purposes, though I know that's how the Interstate highway system was justified by Eisenhower.
Of course there was nothing in the Constitution barring women from voting, but it took an amendment to grant them that right.
No matter what you may think of government waste, under it all it is a pretty good investment scheme. Look at it this way:
Gearhead gets a grant from the Department of Agriculture to make a piece of equipment. Once it is made he sells one to Walt, then Walt sells his farm product that the machine helped him produce to a wholesaler who sells it to a retailer who sells it to the public. After four or five turns the government gets its money back in taxes. It's all about commerce. All the government had to do was make the initial investment and the ball started rolling. Now Walt doesn't like DOA grants or subsidies, so if he shuts them down you will be paying more for the products you buy hence the government makes money much faster, probably in three turns. Go to a grocery store and look at the price of cows milk and compare it to unsubsidized goats milk. Basically the same product and packaging, but three times the price.
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