Stupid questions. Government is no more or less corrupt than business and the role of government isn't to be efficient. If you ran government to make a profit then it wouldn't serve the people to their best interests, only to the best interest of profit. You can't have it both ways.
It's ok, the d & d is fairly consistent, "if you ain't with me your agin me", and I think that's the point. Sam really does a nice job, doesn't he?
Stupid answers. At least you did answer that you think government is corrupt while comparing it to business which is completely irrelevant. What does making a profit have to do with our government being efficient? Here is a nice yes no question for you. Do you think our government is serving the best interests of the people by not being efficient?
You're comparing government to business by asking the questions. You think the private sector performs government functions better than government and so it's completely relevant. It has to do with it because government is responsible for providing services that private sector companies would never take on because they're not able to be profitable and/or maximize efficiency. Are you serious? Another stupid ass question. Efficient as compared to what? Business? There's no magic "efficient" level of operation. There's more efficient and less efficient. I will take a government that is less efficient and serves my needs over something else that is more efficient and doesn't serve my needs. Your anti-government BS is just that, BS.
Here's a nice yes no question for you. Is the best solution for inefficiencies of government to remove all government power over the market?
No. It may do things that people may term ethically questionable, but I'm working under the guise of the law, as businesses may also do things that are ethically questionable. Furthermore, governments may violate the law, just as businesses may violate the law. Libertarians seem to think government is just plain bad, when I generally view government the same way I view a gun. It can do good, it can do evil. It depends on the person who controls it, just like a gun. Define efficient. What does an efficient government look like?
Absolutely I'll answer them but I have to say I'm rather afraid they're going to be crammed into a cornucopia of craptastic conclusions and conjured conjecture, more so than actual questions. As compared to most governments? Certainly not. The U.S ranked a 7.1 on the latest Trasparency international survey of corruption perception. Obviously, that's not perfect (10 is perfect/no corruption), and not as high as the leader (Denmark 9.1), but it's 22nd overall out of 178 countries, which is a pretty good ranking I think. I actuall think the US should probably be higher too than several countries on the list, I have a feeling that bribery in Qatar is a bit easier to get away with than here, but I'm speculating. What evidence do you have that "the government" is corrupt? As compared to what? a cotton gin? There are efficient parts and inefficient ones. I paid $2.25 and rode the subway to work this morning. It got me there on time. The toilets flushed. The traffic lights worked. I don't know if that's efficient or not. But it worked and I definitely didn't notice any latent inefficiency. So you feel the government is corrupt AND efficient, are you positing a link between the two? Please explain. This is far more interesting than I expected.
First off I'd like to say thanks for the answers. I appreciate your point of view more than most around here that assume way too much about a person because of a quickly penned post on a sports forum. It's not like there is going to be any changing of minds or political stance in here anyway, it's mostly going to be people calling people that don't think like them stupid or ignorant or whatever. You can read the above posts to see that and I am guilty like the rest(I was baited though). My point of view on corruption and inefficiency in our government comes from a belief that our politicians don't do much with the idea that they are working for the people like they should. They make decisions based on getting reelected. While that may help them make decisions that for the most part align them with the "will of the people" it all too often means they are making decisions that make the people that pay for their reelection happy. The tax money that they spend is often not used to it's greatest efficiency due to the conflict of interests they may have in gaining funding or not. I do not believe that being a Senator or Representative should be your profession and it certainly shouldn't be so lucrative that people will bend their moral ideals to maintain that position. The fact is, that is where we are. The half a billion dollars to Solyndra seems corrupt and inefficient to me. I only pick this because it is the latest in the news. I've heard all the "you win some you lose some arguments" but 500 million seems like enough that we should have done some pretty good vetting. I don't want to argue who's fault it is, OUR government wasted 500 million and that is disgusting to me. I think our system of government is the greatest in the world but I don't think that is good enough. Just the idea of the US being ranked 22nd in anything makes me sick. Just so you know, I'm not big into politics at all and only pop in here on occasion to see what the poo of the month is.
Having an opinion of our president doesn't mean I'm into politics. Also, in case you were wondering I was kidding about the crackhead.
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One of the main things that amazes me about libertarians is their child like trust in the morality and inherernt goodness of for profit corporations. Haven't they ever dealt with an insurance company for instance?
Haven't heard anyone, libertarian or otherwise, make this claim. What insurance company have you had issues with?
