"The government can't do anything right"

[SHRED]

Unfortunately this is the mindset of everyday working people who have bought into the radio talkshows and FAUX Noise.

The "game" is simple enough:

First we have complete media ownership (radio and TV) by wealthy corporate conservative interests....then...

* Nonstop bashing of the "media" as bias to the liberal side.
* Nonstop bashing of OUR government as worthless, intrusive, and in need of weaker regulatory oversight and downsizing.

This cycle is repeated ad nauseum and the lazy minds, being devoid of critical thinking and/or the ability to take a step back and look at what is going on, fall for this garbage.

People are upset and looking for a target.
Radio and TV "lead" people away from the real source which is the uber-wealthy owning the message and OUR government.
Those in control due a masterful job of demonizing our government and those of us open-minded enough seeking real and creative solutions.

This is why even those struggling to get by rail against a Public Option for instance.
They have bought into the Corporatists (fascists) big lies.

I asked one of these people yesterday, "What is wrong with have a strong public option?"..."Why not have a choice for system that if we do not like how it is run we vote out those who run it?"..."Why not bring Democracy into health insurance?"..."How much control due you have over a private insurer's CEO?".

And the good news is it gave him pause to think.

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[johnlucas]

1. You countered that person with excellence

Me personally I see both the business class and the government class as evils to play against one another. It all comes back to checks & balances.

Government can become dangerous but at the end of the day if people remember what government should be for (basically a nation's manager) they can always keep it accountable to the people.
Business can become dangerous but at the end of the day if people remember what business should be for (civilization's method for supplying mass products for a mass populace) they can always keep it accountable to the buyers...which is the people themselves.

AND knowing that both entities can easily become drunk with power (because people themselves become drunk with power & are at the core of both), you can play one against the other so that they check themselves. Much like chess pieces do on a chessboard.

The problem is that business often controls access to the necessities of life (you pay a water bill & you have to shop at a market for food, etc.). And with this power they can manipulate the populace anyway they see fit if they choose.
This is why you need government to check business. To keep them from jacking up the prices & skimping on the quality of their productions. Also to keep them from abusing the workers who make those businesses run to give us those productions.

Another problem is that government often controls the quality of your civilization's infrastructure. An entrepreneur can think outside the established way to create something that forces government to change the way they operate.
You need business to check government when it starts to become tyrannical over its own populace.

But business' goals are usually one-note & short-sighted. To get as much money as possible without sharing with anyone else. They want to monopolize & become the only choice. They don't check government well because they are too selfish.

Government wants to control everything & get paid tribute for protection. It's like The Godfather & everybody kissing his ring.
They can check business well because they want everybody to submit to them in obedience.

Government's motus operandi is Control.
Business's motus operandi is Greed.

It comes down to people groups to step in to fix this imbalance. Government should get an edge over business since they have more farsighted goals but business must be allowed to produce so the civilization gets a decent standard of living.

We must be the Overriding Check.
To allow businesses to flourish for the good of civilization (therefore jobs) but also to curb their inherent greed which comes at the cost of that civilization.
To allow government to put some controls over things (regulation not deregulation) for the good of civilization but also leave enough wiggle room so that their controlling grip doesn't become a suffocating vice.

The People are the Audience watching the show. The measure of how good a civilization is depends on how satisfied its people are with it.
It's our job to work those two until we get what we want.
Civilization is the flee from Raw Nature. It is Controlled Nature (or maybe the Illusion of Controlled Nature).
We are a part of this Earth & its environments. Inseparable by design. We need to breathe the air & drink the water & eat the foods. But since Nature has a cruel side we invented Civilization to get a break from all that. It's an experiment with some bugs to work out but at least we have some choice now over how our lives will turn out. We bended Nature more to our needs & where we couldn't we designed warning signs to prevent the backlash.

Problem is some people forgot ultimately what this experiment was intended for. It wasn't for some of the people to live better but ALL of the people. Until you get this, you will have resentment which leads to crime, war, & ultimately the decimation of that civilization.

We're supposed to be our brother's keeper (sister's too). A chain is only as strong as its weakest link so until all parts of this human chain are strong we got some work to do.

America can strengthen this chain with a National Health Care Program. Socialism? Yeah, just like the Public Library. Your ability to gain knowledge academically shouldn't be dependent on your finances. Less focus on the stars and more focus on the commons. Concentrate on the rule rather than the exceptions. Bring the mass to a higher level and your civilization becomes better.
John Lucas

[johnlucas]

2. A much shorter comment

I sort of got off topic on the last reply.

Another example for a person like this who says the government can't do anything right is bringing up the existence of the USFDA. I wonder how he thinks his food somehow stays so safe to eat without all that governmental inspection nitpicking anything that might be harmful to consume.

Also bring up the existence of the military also run by government. Commander-In-Chief is head of armed forces. If he doesn't believe in government then he also doesn't believe in the military's ability to protect him from harm.

When kept in check a government properly operates as a nation's manager. Seeing it in practice is tough because people can be easy to fool & fail to be that overriding check that keeps them in line.

Also the post office, another government-run operation. And they do it so relatively cheap too. Imagine if business was totally in charge of that. FedEx & UPS only do what they do to stay competitive with the government run mail service. Without the USPS, those other outfits would raise prices through the roof as far as they could just like gas prices.

You can't have civilization without government. You just need a better one, not no government at all. Anarchy IS just as bad as it sounds. No rules and I mean NO RULES. People can't truly live in a world like that.
John Lucas

[izquierdista]

3. The "gubmint - bad" message

It plays right into the hands of Repubs who are there only for their own financial gain (and that of their cronies). If they fuck up royally in office, they have just strengthened their hand. You have to admit, that after the 8 years of Bush, it really does appear that "government" can't do anything right. As Bill Maher said "Republicans run on government being incompetent and when elected immediately prove it."