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The Role of the Government
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What is the optimal role of a government? Do you think a government is generally better when it: a. controls less, giving more freedom to the individual, but b. provides less aid (small government)? Or is government better when it a. restricts citizens more/has more control, yet b. also supports the general public through numerous government-run programs (big government)? Which do you think is optimal, and to what extreme?
Personally, I'd prefer a very large government which guarntees basic living conditions to the people through an incredibly big welfare program. The notion that problems over basic needs like food and shelter still plague much of the public in such an advanced age strikes me as absurd- and call me an idealist, but I think it could help end such ailments to society. The closest examples would maybe be the social democracies of Europe.
Your thoughts on the matter?
The right almost and even sometimes literally say they want to destroy government. For some reason, likely corporate, most conservative parties have taken up a an anarchist mentality to varying degrees as though on a daily basis their being deprived of an integral right or resource, which is obviously not the case.
Pure freedom is no paradise, civilization has formed from tribes for the same reason anything else evolves, improved survivability. If you look to your neighbors as fellow countrymen and assume they think the same of you, you are more likely to have positive or maybe even practically beneficial relations.
The further evolution of state structure recently has become increasingly anemic as the private sector has begun actively demonizing centralized democratic social structure, even deeply corrupting some such as in the US manipulating the idea of America to their own uses.
I personally believe that government needs to give people as much freedom as possible- while still protecting the people.
I think that instead of government taking care of people they need to make it so the majority of people can take care of themselves. example instead of providing everyone with insurance make the insurance companies act fairly- right now there buisness practices are highly dishonest, the system doesnt work because of this, put the foot down on them and regulate it and it would work right,
O and when i say protect the people i mean keep them from being cheated or injured by corperations from things like fraud, artificially high prices and bad food etc, not banning slides swings and dodgeball from playgrounds or other stuipid crap like that.
The purpose of government is no mystery, it is a societal organisation on a macro level which does what cannot or ought not to be done via profit motive. Such as infrastructure, justice, supplementation of basic human needs, and is an overall societal(national)/cultural organization which is the representation of its populace.
Most governments nowadays have a constitution in place that prevents them from taking extreme measures to ensure its continued existence optimally.
Governments who uphold the constitution at the cost of more options to support plans that will benefit the nation after a long term period are therefore left out of the equation which leads to slower progress or a regress as is the case in the US, of course this does not mean that a government with a constitution cannot flourish it simply means they have fewer options to make it flourish.
Its the matter of the common man's search for happiness that influences what a government does. I find this wrong when it comes to efficient but excellent when it comes to morals.
Helping out citizens is a good thing but it is a shaky balance between supporting the populace and allowing for growth, tax for one goes to say the pensions of our citizens.
In a way this limits growth as the economic cycle of spending is limited thus causing strain on the overall economy and that is why it is a shaky balance.
If a government however does not support its citizens then people will move away, also causing problems for its economy.
In ages past people could not move away and there was no constitution so governments had free reign, we see great economic growth in most cases where the leader is a person of genuine intellect.
In conclusion I guess you could say that if people would be more supportive of a government (which is mostly not the case in our modern world) we could see a major rise in power for that nation. When I say supportive I mean doing more then shouting the name of your country several times really loudly *Looks at the Americans.*
I think things need to be taken back to the drawing board. Over here in the UK everyone always ends up hating the PM who fails to deliver what they promised every-time and based on what I've read this is the same in other countries. Something needs to be reformed considering politics seems to cause more problems that it solves most of the time.
However I'm no expert here and I avoid politics in whatever way I can. All I can really say is that I believe in freedom but naturally there needs to be order and management and unfortunately governments - which provide that - are corrupt.
Agreed, same here in Germany. The whole principle of democracy needs to be repaired, maybe improved, or - if it doesnt work at all - replaced by a better system like more localized democracy or so. Well, Im interested in politics and economy.
Both of you guys are correct, "free" governemnts dont really work, but i think that might actually be the point of it in the first place.
think of what kind of government gets things done... dictatorships, and most of what they get done isnt usually very good for the people.
so in a democracy the standstill is actually showing that niether side is in complete control and cannot force things on the people.
thats how its suppose to work in theory- in practice the sheer inefectiveness and stuipidity of officails shine through and nothing ever gets done right or at all.
eccelisa is right in that we need reform- but what kind and how, any thoughts?
Regarding reform- I'm probably gonna get a lot of flak for this, but in fact, I think the current democratic governments of today are actually... Quite good.
Not saying they're perfect, not saying they don't still need to undergo reform, but I think people are often way too quick to go "THE GOVERNMENT SUCKS, WE NEED TO BREAK IT DOWN AND REBUILD IT, IT'S INEFFECTIVE, IT GETS NOTHING DONE, IT'S THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, IT'S CONTROLLED BY CORPORATIONS, IT'S A DICTATORSHIP, INFILTRATED BY ALIENS, A MASSIVE CONSPIRACY, RULED BY UNDEAD HITLER" etc. I mean, really, in this insane world we live in, the republics of the Western World are really quite incredible. Yes, the officials can be idiots, stuff often doesn't get done, etc., but taking that into consideration, I find it a marvel that such systems can exist AT ALL. We have a great deal of freedom, a lot of opportunity, can actively participate in and change the government, and can usually do whatever we want without fear of having our doors being booted down by a gestapo-like force (in the Western World).
Really, the government is a lot better at what it does than we give it credit for, and a lot more friendly than we tend to think. Not that they aren't a bunch of warmongering, greedy, self-centered fools a lot of the time; but they are still warmongering, greedy, self-centered fools that somehow (how they manage to do so, I have no idea) uphold a functioning free democracy. And really, managing a country is a hell of a lot more complicated than we often imagine; in a lot of ways, I think our leaders actually doing a pretty good job. That being said, it still needs to undergo major reforms; my opinions on the matter are stated in the comment at the top of the page, I'd prefer a republic with a more socialist mindset.
I prefer a mad max style free for all..
lol just kidding- i think for the most part you are correct
democracy works pretty much the way its designed to.
when i said it needed reform i meabt what needs to be done to streamline the process and make work better
Indeed.
I concur; no system is perfect, so we must refine it. Unfortunately I think the root of our problem is often not with the politicans but rather with the people, they are the ignorant masses who turn politics into a two-party battle of idiocy. The problem with government is ultimately always human nature. It's why communism didn't work; it's why capitalism is ruthless and cruel, why dictators are evil, and why democracies are flawed. Hopefully we will progress with time; may knowledge save us.
A strange note: I think that things will change once we become a majorly spacefaring race. It'll bring about such changes in view, eliminate so many biases with the sudden new prespectives, make old problems seem utterly trivial when confronted with new ones. Hopefully that change in mentality will bring about alterations in government.
Or it will bring about more war for new resources as a colony on Mars could declare itself free from Earth.
Just a thought. Its human nature after all but we supress it as best we can.
Back on topic. The system is great, no one man is tasked with an entire country because he has people like governers and mayors.
The problem is indeed with people in my opinion, we task world leaders with many problems, war, famine, hunger and such but nobody has the insight to fix it all it is not possible and there are no resources for it as it goes to us.
Like I said before, I am happy the government helps people down on their luck but this can be a problem. Resources and attention are taken away from other problems which are resolved slower.
I am not directly pinning the fault on just this one thing, its a combination of factors.
Fact remains that with more resources more options open up. Smart thing to do is to divert it for some time from expensive projects like space travel and funnel it into the economy so later more money can be retrieved.
Also, crisis breeds crisis. This is the economic cycle, if they cut your salary because of the crisis you naturally have less to spend and so the workingman making or selling the things you normally buy gets fired or a lower salary because people have not bought his products, a chain reaction follows when he has less money to spend and so wages go down again and unemployment rises.
The role of the Gov't is just to protect its people and serve them in a way that makes the country a better place. Nothing more, nothing less.