Mikesell! First of all, it's great to see you back on these here internets, and "hi!" it's awesome to hear from you.
Respectfully, I disagree. To say the government doesn't do anything well or right seems willfully naive. Obviously, there is a lot that government could be doing better, but that is the peril of a work in progress.
For arguments sake I'm going to ignore state and local government right now. But the Code of Federal Regulations and the US Code are huge, ginormous sets of laws that basically boil down to the principle "don't be a jerk, ok." And because people and corporations will always come up with new ways to be jerks, these are living, evolving governing documents. I mean, we need the FDA because otherwise corporations will try to poison our food. We need the SEC because in the 20s and 30s some jerks were swindling people, and capitalism being what it is, I think we have recently seen that some jerks are going to continue to try to swindle people for a buck, and the best we can try to do is prevent it.
I feel silly using sketch comedy to make a point, but this is amusingly apt to illustrate the problems inherent in lack of government:
Re: I disagree in my friendly manner.
Respectfully, I disagree. To say the government doesn't do anything well or right seems willfully naive. Obviously, there is a lot that government could be doing better, but that is the peril of a work in progress.
For arguments sake I'm going to ignore state and local government right now. But the Code of Federal Regulations and the US Code are huge, ginormous sets of laws that basically boil down to the principle "don't be a jerk, ok." And because people and corporations will always come up with new ways to be jerks, these are living, evolving governing documents. I mean, we need the FDA because otherwise corporations will try to poison our food. We need the SEC because in the 20s and 30s some jerks were swindling people, and capitalism being what it is, I think we have recently seen that some jerks are going to continue to try to swindle people for a buck, and the best we can try to do is prevent it.
I feel silly using sketch comedy to make a point, but this is amusingly apt to illustrate the problems inherent in lack of government: