Big Government or Small Government?

[TheQuestionMan]

Government healthcare or private healthcare?
Government schools or private schools?
Government police or private police?
Government welfare or private welfare?
Government social security or private retirement?
Government full time military or part time local militias?
Government transportation or private transportation?

Does one's victim status determine the desire for big or small government?
Does one want to pay high taxes or low taxes?
Does a big or small government promote more personal freedoms/responsibilities?

What are some examples of big governments?
What are some examples of small governments?

Is the current USA government too big or too small?

[Christopher Shilts]

I moved this from the lounge to politics. I think this category is a better fit for the topic.

My personal answers to your questions are as follows:

Private healthcare is preferable, with some safety net provided by the government as the provider of last resort. Unfortunately this balance doesn't seem attainable in practice, as governments generally expand but don't contract.

From my experience government schools suck. Having been home schooled for a few months, when I returned to the public school system I was several years ahead of my peers. Also the public school system said I would never be able to read and basically wrote me off as a lost cause. My mother taught me, and I ended up reading at a college level by the time I entered middle school. I think instead of a standardized public school system, students should have a voucher for x amount of monies per year. Parents would get to choose what school to put their kids in, and if they wanted to put up some of their own money to get the kid into a better school, with the government voucher paying for some of it. I believe this would create an incentive for the public school system to up its game and try to compete with the private one.

Honestly I don't have the greatest view of law enforcement. Many cops are decent people. However there are many people employed in law enforcement who are little more than paid mercenaries for the establishment. There doesn't seem to be a universal standard for law enforcement to adhere to either. They will harass some citizens endlessly, while being extra nice to others. I've heard from a lot of folks who say once you're on the police's shit list, they go out of their way to make your life miserable. I don't think a private police force would solve this problem. I mean, in theory the public police's duty is to serve and protect, but the question I've found myself increasingly asking is serve and protect whom? Are they really making our community safe when they harass people for feeding the birds, or having an old car in their yard? And what will the verdict be in the Shaun Carpenter case?

Welfare is another interesting subject. Goverment welfare didn't used to exist, rather it was up to private charities to provide for people fallen on hard times. They couldn't turn this into a way of life either, as the assistance provided was often quite meager, and private citizens wouldn't be inclined to let people become life long charity cases if they where capable of working. That said, I do believe some sort of safety net should be provided, to prevent people from starving or being exposed to the elements. Whether charity or government is best suited to the task I don't know. But the current system is in desperate need of reforms, as millions of citizens have found themselves caught in the poverty trap. In the short term, working makes their situation worse, as many benefits get cut off. It doesn't help that corporate america is lead by greedy people who shipped good jobs overseas, and lobbied the government to import cheap labor to replace Americans.

Government social security is a joke. Seriously, it was created with the expectation that people would die within 15 years after reaching retirement age. It was supposed to be solvent, but our scumbag politicians loot the thing out anytime they need to find some funding. Add to that a massive wave of baby boomers who have retired, and the situation keeps getting worse. Oh, and they barely raise the thing to keep up with inflation. That said, a hybrid approach might be better. In the past, government retirement at least guaranteed you'd get something if you made it to old age. But what happens if you die young? Does any of that roll over to your inheritors the way investments would?

I'll bet on professional soldiers most of the time to beat militia's, but that depends on the operational environment and rules of engagement. In a prolonged occupation such as Afghanistan or Iraq, the advantage is with the resistance groups. While militia's might be able to oust a foreign power eventually, they are ill suited to preventing the invasion and occupation to begin with. I believe a standing army would be better suited to sparing the civilian population many miserable years under foreign occupation, assuming that army is strong enough. Also militia's really suck at set piece battles with a professional military, which tend to be one sided massacres when they do happen. Militia's are better suited toward keeping the peace, and resisting a foreign military via hit and run attacks. They also have the advantage of knowing the local area in great detail, since they live there; and they are often the first units available to respond to a natural disaster. If I had my choice, I'd want both as part of my nations defense forces.

Private transportation is generally preferable, but sometimes public transporation is useful. Even if you have a car, it might break down. And if you don't have a car or can't drive, public transporation may be your only option.

I'll say that the portion of a person's income they pay in taxes may influence whether they favor a large or small government. I think most people want to pay low taxes, but a lot of people pay very little if any taxes, but receive a significant portion of their resources from the government in various forms. For them it's not a problem to vote for higher taxes since they are not actually going to end up footing the bill, but will become the beneficiaries.

I don't buy that personal freedom exists, at least not if you're part of a community. Even with a group of like minded friends, you end up bound to the social norms of said group. You have a degree of autonomy, which is lessened or increased depending on the restrictions placed upon you by whatever group you're a part of. The only exception I think is a man who lives by himself somewhere. While he's on his own property, outside the rules and social norms imposed by others, he is free. But when he comes into town, he again must observe the restrictions placed upon him by society, or deal with the consequences. For example, on your own land in the wilderness you can walk around naked, hunt wild animals, stumble around drunk and piss on every tree you come across. Do any of these in town and you're liable to end up in jail.

Finally I believe the current federal government is absolutely massive, and no longer represents the interests of the American people. I don't believe we need this enormously complex and overburdening federal government meddling into every aspect of our lives, and shoving its partisan politics down our throats. I do believe political power should be reclaimed by the people, and the federal government significantly shrunk until it represents our interests again. That said, I'm not certain it's possible to reverse the clock on this. The federal government may have become a runaway monster which the people will never be able to get under control.

[TheQuestionMan]

THE CHURCH OF GOVERNMENT

"We read now from the gospel according to government. 1st Book of politicians, chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning was chaos, mayhem and people were as wild beasts. And there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth throughout the land. Then it came to pass, that politicians descended from the heavens, shining in glory and spoke to the people saying, We are the Lord Thy Government and we have decided to bless you with our presence, so that We may save you from your sins....."

https://www.bitchute.com/video/QMwZ4cMvVKiI/

[TheQuestionMan]

“If the American people knew what we have done, they would string us up from the lamp posts.” George H. W. Bush

“The CIA owns everyone of any significance in the major media.” William Colby, former CIA director

“We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.” William Casey, CIA Director

“I never would have agreed to the formulation of the Central Intelligence Agency back in forty-seven, if I had known it would become the American Gestapo.” Harry S. Truman

“In the next century, nations as we know it will be obsolete; all states will recognize a single, global authority. National sovereignty wasn’t such a great idea after all.” Strobe Talbot, President Clinton’s Deputy Secretary of State, as quoted in Time, July 20th, l992.

“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. All our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world, no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.” Woodrow Wilson, deathbed confession

“The depression was the calculated ‘shearing’ of the public by the World Money powers, triggered by the planned sudden shortage of supply of call money in the New York money market. The One World Government leaders and their ever close bankers have now acquired full control of the money and credit machinery of the U.S. via the creation of the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank.” Curtis Dall, FDR’s son-in-law as quoted in his book, My Exploited Father-in-Law

“Fifty men have run America, and that’s a high figure.” Joseph Kennedy, in the July 26th, l936 issue of The New York Times.

“The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson.” A letter written by FDR to Colonel House, November 21st, l933

“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” – Henry Ford

“Within two decades, the institutional framework for a world economic community will be in place. Aspects of individual sovereignty will be given over to a supernational authority.” Roy Ash, Director of the Office of Management and Budget 1972

“Today the path of total dictatorship in the United States can be laid by strictly legal means, unseen and unheard by the Congress, the President, or the people. Outwardly we have a Constitutional government. We have operating within our government and political system, another body representing another form of government, a bureaucratic elite.” Senator William Jenner, 1954

“We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries.” David Rockefeller, Baden-Baden, Germany 1991

“The Federal Reserve is one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever seen. There is not a man within the sound of my voice who does not know that this nation is run by international bankers.” Congressman Louis McFadden, Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Currency

“Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men’s views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the U.S., in the field of commerce and manufacturing, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.” Woodrow Wilson

“We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.” David Rockefeller

“The drive of the Rockefellers and their allies is to create a one-world government combining super capitalism and Communism under the same tent, all under their control…. Do I mean conspiracy? Yes I do. I am convinced there is such a plot, international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly evil in intent.” – Congressman Larry P. McDonald, 1976, killed in the Korean Airlines 747 shot down by the Soviets

“Some even believe we, the Rockefeller family, are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure, one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.” David Rockefeller, Memoirs, page 405

“To achieve world government, it is necessary to remove from the minds of men their individualism, loyalty to family traditions, national patriotism, and religious dogmas.” Brock Adams, Director UN Health Organization

“One of the least understood strategies of the world revolution now moving rapidly toward its goal is the use of mind control as a major means of obtaining the consent of the people who will be subjects of the New World Order.” From The National Educator, K.M. Heaton

“Today, America would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow they will be grateful! This is especially true if they were told that there were an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by the World Government.” Henry Kissinger

[Lloydgow]

I will say this is what a real protest/strike should look like. If people are ever fed up with corporations, the government, the status quo, or whatever let this be the example of how you throw a wrench in the system. Stock up hoard and dont come out. Screw a million people marching in the streets. A million people staying home doing nothing is more effective.