Do we really need the government to do so many things for us like censorship, healthcare, our paychecks...?

Question

I can't believe anyone would sit there and complain that the government is bad and has too much control over their life, yet they want to make the government do more to censor television. They want the government to socialize healthcare and make laws presiding over the use of it. We've seen what the government does when given too much control over something-- look at our taxes. Do you really want to give that same body control over the rest of our lives? Do you want to see cencorship on the level of that of China?

Answer 1

An former goveernor of Ohio once told this story: There's a guy from who after coming home from the Army used the GI bill to get training as a welder, skills he used to get a job at Rockwell International, one of the nations biggest defense contrators. He then used a VA loan to buy his house which was in a subdivision that had local water, sewer and fire protection and his kids could walk to local public schools. The guys elderly parents were both drawing social security and medicare which meant that they could live independantly and not move in with he and his wife. He, the guy in question wrote to the governor to complain that he was joining the John Birch society because he was tired of having government on his back.

Answer 2

You speak of our government as if it were some foreign occupying power. Our government is We the People acting collectively. The people in a town, rather than each family buying books, get together and create a public library. Federal government is (theoretically) the same sort of collective action, but on a larger scale.

Your "taxes" comments seem predicated on a notion that every tax is necessarily a bad thing. I can't agree. An equitably distributed and well spend tax benefits everyone. Isn't public garbage collection obviously better than depending on individuals to make their own arrangements? Are Health Department and Fire Marshall regulations better than allowing restaurant owners to determine thier own level of sanitation or fire safety?

In High School civics I learned about the limits of government power, a lesson that seems to been lost. The basic principle was this. Our rights (in addition to those listed in the Constitution) are the right to be secure in our person and the right to be secure in our property.

If some activity is infringing on our rights, the government MUST act to protect our rights. This is why assault and theft are illegal -- not because of some nebulous ideas of morality or God's will, but because these acts clearly violate the rights of others. The government can't gaurantee that one will never be assaulted or robbed, but it MUST take reasonable measures to prevent these activities and to punish those who engage in them.

If an activity [among consenting adults in private] does NOT infringe on the rights of others, the government MAY NOT prohibit that activity. This would cover your concerns about cencorship. Obviously, many of our current laws violate this principle. For instance, this principle says that Joe Hippy has a right to smoke marijuana in the privacy of his home, since that is NOT a clear infringement on the rights of others.

Of course there are gray area, like seat belt laws. On the one hand, the individual has the right to decide. On the other, our tax dollars go to support the hospitals that patch the individual back together when his head goes through the windshield.

I hope this gives you some ideas to consider in the area of the nature of government, the purpose of collective revenue (taxes), and the theory of limited government power.

Answer 3

Sadly, as evident by the current actions of both parties, it is evident both major parties feel they have a plan to take as much as they can, redistribute wealth to their respective special interest groups and do as little as possible for the average American.

Why does the Patriot Act have a whole section on securing our northern border but omitted any mention of our southern border?

Answer 4

The federal government has usurped the states powers. Time and time again. They need to butt out of statehood business. If they did we would have better representation as We the People and government would be far more productive working as our servants rather than our masters.

Answer 5

Our COMMUNISTIC DICTATORSHIP government (USA) SUCKS. And NO I do not want them to put any more control over my life. NONE what-so-ever. They have too much control over me right now. And they don't pay me, the company I work for pays me. The only thing they do is take my money that they call taxes.

Answer 6

F@#$ NO!!!!!

i'm a firm believer, that if the U.S. civil war were to happen today, most Americans would be confederates.

boy i hope no one that doesn't know the REAL reasons for the war get offended!(oh, wait, this is just MY opinion, i give a flip if anyone gets p.o.'ed)

Answer 7

Who will do them then?? You?
So when you get terrorists making advertisments on billboards and during the halftime breaks, don't complain how they got there!

Answer 8

Government should serve one purpose, National Security. Other than keeping our culture and way of life secure, they should never deulge into our personal lives whatso ever

Answer 9

Good question (whoever you are)!!!

Doesn't make sense does it.. To want certain things and then cry "foul" when something equally as invasive happens.

Answer 10

you are right... they have too much control already
omg they saw what i just said
they're here at the door
clutching my pc
no no no
nooooooo