Ted, I believe in the Social Contract. The basic function of government is to secure the rights and freedoms of every citizen. And freedom in this case is "free speech," not "free beer" or other handouts, and certainly not "freedom FROM something that annoys you" like religion or whatever.
Hence law enforcement and defense are vital to any government, but those functions must secure rights and freedoms, not take away from them. Otherwise you have a police state.
Beyond that, it's debatable. Most people want government to build infrastructure like roads and set up regulations such as minimum wage, 8 hour work days, etc. That's fine with me. Environmental protection too. There's no other way to ensure that individuals and businesses aren't polluting the environment except via regulation. Disaster recovery would also qualify since it involves security, infrastructure, and environmental protection.
Some hard-core libertarians may disagree, but that's where the debate ought to be. Not over handouts, wealth redistribution, and slush funds that only enrich and empower those with the political connections. People who believe in that just see government as an all-powerful entity that can be used to eliminate poverty and create some sort of utopia on Earth.
Tenchusatsu
P.S. - Since I'm not a hard-core libertarian, I also think government can provide very basic health insurance for everyone. Of course, it's going to be incredibly expensive, kind of like universal K-12 education is. But I think when it comes to people's lives, you can't rely 100% on capitalism to deal with it because you can't put a value on life. |
