If citizens actually had free choice in which government programs to fund as well as how much to contribute, the size of the US government (measured both in revenue and power over the people) would be 1/10 the size of today's utter monstrosity.
And if citizens literally had to cut a check at the beginning of every year, rather than pay through deliberately-obfuscated systems designed to hide the true cost of government, the size of government would be cut again by 90%.
If you hate government so much, move to Somalia. Seriously.
If you love water so much, why not move to the middle of the Atlantic?
The problem is not government in general. The problem is TOO MUCH government, and too much CENTRALIZED government. You have much more power influencing your local and state government than you will ever have trying to influence the federal government. This should be obvious when you consider that 48/50 US Senators don't care about you or your state.
If we had more local control over our lives, your argument would carry much more weight.
The problem is too many small government authorities and lack of control/oversight by a large central government.
If you have lots of small local government then they usually don't have enough power to really get things done. If central government is too small people are forced to get ripped off by private companies supplying services that otherwise the government would have. Most people get government services at below market cost thanks to subsidy via higher taxation for the rich.
The government is the servant of the people. If it isn't then it is broken and needs fixing, but the general idea is that we all get a better deal and get protection from pure market forces by banding together.
Well ... (Score:5, Funny)
Easy enough (Score:0, Insightful)
If citizens actually had free choice in which government programs to fund as well as how much to contribute, the size of the US government (measured both in revenue and power over the people) would be 1/10 the size of today's utter monstrosity.
And if citizens literally had to cut a check at the beginning of every year, rather than pay through deliberately-obfuscated systems designed to hide the true cost of government, the size of government would be cut again by 90%.
Too bad government isn't voluntary, or t
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:5, Insightful)
If you hate government so much, move to Somalia. Seriously.
If you love water so much, why not move to the middle of the Atlantic?
The problem is not government in general. The problem is TOO MUCH government, and too much CENTRALIZED government. You have much more power influencing your local and state government than you will ever have trying to influence the federal government. This should be obvious when you consider that 48/50 US Senators don't care about you or your state.
If we had more local control over our lives, your argument would carry much more weight.
Re:Easy enough (Score:2)
The problem is too many small government authorities and lack of control/oversight by a large central government.
If you have lots of small local government then they usually don't have enough power to really get things done. If central government is too small people are forced to get ripped off by private companies supplying services that otherwise the government would have. Most people get government services at below market cost thanks to subsidy via higher taxation for the rich.
The government is the servant of the people. If it isn't then it is broken and needs fixing, but the general idea is that we all get a better deal and get protection from pure market forces by banding together.