Hmmm...we could go round and round on this.
I see the bickering all around SI, on the Web, to a lesser degree in the mainstream media. People are divided like I've never seen in my life time. The issue of the day, today, is state of our health care system.
Some people believe it is on the verge of seizing up the finances of the country and a fundamental overhaul must happen to avert disaster. Some other people believe that any more government involvement in health care (or anywhere, quite commonly) will only make matters worse.
Without assuming too much, one side of this disagreement says, "Some greater degree of government influence is beneficial to society because, as it exists in whatever flawed form, a democratic government is supposed to embody the collective will of and speak for its citizens."
The other side says, "At its best, the government footprint is minimal. The people who endow me with power want me to serve no purpose beyond facilitating a level playing field for society. A prime imperative is to facilitate the growth of business."
For me, it comes down to this. I've spent a lot of time in the developing world and a fair bit of time in Europe. Life here in the United States is very, very comfortable. It has been for so long that most of the living population has no memory or knowledge of great collective suffering. When our leaders say things like, "The United States is blessed", it's not rhetorical hyperbole.
From its inception, on a general trend with many peaks and troughs, life in this country has gotten better and for more people. Throughout that time, government has grown commensurately with business activity and general prosperity.
I don't know if we'd be better off with less government. I do know that I haven't seen so many places do it as well as we do. It's up for debate if any country does better at helping to facilitate civil and happy society. If the US has done so well, then, to this point and over many generations, having government prevalent in the mix can't have been all bad.
This was all said after drinking a couple home made stouts (7% ABV) so I reserve the right to say, "You're right." <g> |
