Why does anyone trust any government anywhere to take care of them?

Wow, you 'Murcans have a weird way of seeing the world! I really can't get my head around your point of view. As a Brit, I think I must have a very different way of understanding government to you guys. Hearing about US issues - such as the recently discovered long-term lead poisoning of people in Flint - I would have expected Americans to want stricter regulation from the Government. I would genuinely be interested to learn how you think the US could function without the Government. Sure it would work for a few people but it would really suck for everybody else, right?

Frucking brilliant for sure.

Go tell'em, Cletus!

Stuff the government should do:

Education

Roads

Water/power lines

Stuff to keep their dirty hands off of:

“Stimulating” the economy (Keynes was a charlatan)

FDA

Social Security (Ponzi scheme)

Libertarian Joe wrote:

Stuff the government should do:

Education

Roads

Water/power lines

Why does the government need to "do" roads? Even far left countries in Europe have private highways that people pay tolls to use. When France is more free market than us regarding the provision of a particular good or service, we should probably rethink things.

Libertarian Joe wrote:

Stuff the government should do:

Education

Roads

Water/power lines

Stuff to keep their dirty hands off of:

“Stimulating” the economy (Keynes was a charlatan)

FDA

Social Security (Ponzi scheme)

If by "Roads" & "Lines" you mean local governments, I might be OK with that. The Feds however screw these up royally.

more socialist than France wrote:

Libertarian Joe wrote:

Stuff the government should do:

Education

Roads

Water/power lines

Why does the government need to "do" roads? Even far left countries in Europe have private highways that people pay tolls to use. When France is more free market than us regarding the provision of a particular good or service, we should probably rethink things.

Is there anything in US law that prevents me from buying the land and building a road? I understand regulations about environmental impact, etc could be used to stop me, but if I bought a skinny strip of land between say Colorado Springs and Denver and built a private road that could only be used by people will to pay, could I? I know some states have leased or sold roads to private companies and charge tolls. (I read where this is not working out so great).

The advantage that government long had in building roads was the power of eminent domain--basically they could take private property (pay "market value" for it) and build a road or dam or something for the public good. Private entities can do this as well although it is tougher.

Libertarian Joe wrote:

Stuff the government should do:

Education

Roads

Water/power lines

Stuff to keep their dirty hands off of:

“Stimulating” the economy (Keynes was a charlatan)

FDA

Social Security (Ponzi scheme)

Does the government build power lines? I thought the utility companies did that.

Interesting that Libertarian Joe thinks government should provide education.

I would add that government should have a law enforcement and court system. There has to be some order and some way to settle disputes peacefully.

Confused Brit wrote:

Wow, you 'Murcans have a weird way of seeing the world! I really can't get my head around your point of view. As a Brit, I think I must have a very different way of understanding government to you guys. Hearing about US issues - such as the recently discovered long-term lead poisoning of people in Flint - I would have expected Americans to want stricter regulation from the Government. I would genuinely be interested to learn how you think the US could function without the Government. Sure it would work for a few people but it would really suck for everybody else, right?

You are funny. You read a few “news” bites and think you know something about our country. Humorous.

This is a win win though. You stay there and we will be happy here. I think you have your own problems to worry about.

Nice post snowflake. Did your mom help you type that?

People with low IQs and lazy as turds love handouts. They're not fit to compete with others so they always want gov't to give them stuff for free. That is their civil rights.

Troll

You are a Democrat Communist trying to trigger you’re fellow Soy Boy, Girly man, soft feminist male, Incel basement dweller, 26 year old Obamacare recipient, nihilist, black clad Antifa, Hillary voter or 2 time Obama voter.

Nice try

You get 2/10

Confused Brit wrote:

Wow, you 'Murcans have a weird way of seeing the world! I really can't get my head around your point of view. As a Brit, I think I must have a very different way of understanding government to you guys. Hearing about US issues - such as the recently discovered long-term lead poisoning of people in Flint - I would have expected Americans to want stricter regulation from the Government. I would genuinely be interested to learn how you think the US could function without the Government. Sure it would work for a few people but it would really suck for everybody else, right?

Keep in mind that we are a VERY young country. Many are just 4 or 5 generations removed from people that settled the West where there was no government to rely on. There are still daily reminders of these early settlers in school names, town names, street names etc...

That 'make it on your own' spirit lives on today even in people that couldn't survive on their own if they had to (probably the OP).

It's not a hand out if everyone is paying taxes for the use. It is called sharing and cooperation. You might have missed that lesson in kindergarten?

The tax you pay on gas is what funds roads. If you're using public transit or biking you're not paying the government to build roads.

Also, education is needed because some people are taught weird BS by their parents and they need to somewhat acclimatize themselves American society to achieve exposure to different viewpoints and learn basic etiquette. Also, educated people make more money which means more tax revenue that can be pulled from them which means you pay less taxes overall.

Also, it seems obvious that people who don't believe in sharing and cooperation take handouts when they don't need it. Which is why it's not the best idea to offer it when you have a society that has a high number of selfish people.

the more you know wrote:

The tax you pay on gas is what funds roads. If you're using public transit or biking you're not paying the government to build roads.

This is not really true. The highway trust fund is subsidized by general fund revenue.

The original plan was for gas tax to pay for all highway infrastructure, but it hasn't worked that way for a while now.

Yeah, a deeper look says that's accurate. Regardless, roads will generate tax revenue in the future though

transportation planner wrote:

the more you know wrote:

The tax you pay on gas is what funds roads. If you're using public transit or biking you're not paying the government to build roads.

This is not really true. The highway trust fund is subsidized by general fund revenue.

The original plan was for gas tax to pay for all highway infrastructure, but it hasn't worked that way for a while now.

No it has not.

One reason is that cars got a lot more fuel efficient and that reduced the revenue. Ironically the feds pushing higher CAFE standards might have driven down the revenue available in addition to car manufacturers having to build cars that make less profit than the trucks and SUVs that are far more popular and profitable.

I think Oregon has experimented with a voluntary program that charges a tax based on miles driven to capture highly efficient vehicles like electrics/hybrids.

Without the government, the first gang to assemble enough weapons would rob you for everything you had, or worse.

Everything else about the government is your payback to them for protecting you from everyone else.