Purpose of government.

[dblack]

I know, I know, "it's not that simple", but if you had to go with one of these statements, which are you more comfortable with?

 

[OKTexas]

Neither.

 

[dblack]

Neither.

Yeah... Ultimately, I agree with you. But I'm trying to draw a line here. If you had to pick one, which makes more sense? It's occurred to me recently that people really do come at it from different angles. Some of us want government that protects us from harm, but otherwise leaves us to live life how we want. Others see government as a tool to build a virtuous and successful community. I'm trying to get a handle on how prevalent these two leanings are.

Do you have a preference?

 

[OKTexas]

Neither.

Yeah... Ultimately, I agree with you. But I'm trying to draw a line here. If you had to pick one, which makes more sense? It's occurred to me recently that people really do come at it from different angles. Some of us want government that protects us from harm, but otherwise leaves us to live life how we want. Others see government as a tool to build a virtuous and successful community. I'm trying to get a handle on how prevalent these two leanings are.

Do you have a preference?

The federal government is constitutionally required to defend the nation as a whole but not a citizen individually. And no level of government should dictate individual actions that do not harm or endanger others. Governments are established to set and enforce rules of civility but according to the supreme court they have no duty to protect.

 

[Londoner]

To provide advanced industrial infrastructure, bailouts, subsidies and regulatory support to business, but take no credit for it. To protect Exxon's oil fields in the middle east, but don't talk about it. To protect the global supply chains and trade routes of business. To fund and develop the satellite technology used by telecom to make massive profits. To fund Boeing and provide massive financial and R&D support to the development of commercial aviation. To provide the private sector with technological advances that came out of the Cold War Pentagon and NASA. To build highways, energy plants, water facilities . . . which is so valuable to commerce. To make sure that nobody ever talks about the things government does to help profit makers.

But make sure that nobody knows

 

[dblack]

To provide advanced industrial infrastructure, bailouts, subsidies and regulatory support to business, but take no credit for it. To protect Exxon's oil fields in the middle east, but don't talk about it. To protect the global supply chains and trade routes of business. To fund and develop the satellite technology used by telecom to make massive profits. To fund Boeing and provide massive financial and R&D support to the development of commercial aviation. To provide the private sector with technological advances that came out of the Cold War Pentagon and NASA. To build highways, energy plants, water facilities . . . which is so valuable to commerce. To make sure that nobody ever talks about the things government does to help profit makers.

But make sure that nobody knows

Exactly. Is that really what we want our government doing?

 

[norwegen]

Procedures for choosing officers and judges are not functions. Neither are the duties that the states and federal government have to each other, nor is altering the Constitution (these are codes of conduct and procedures, respectively).


Government has one function. That is to conduct the business of the United States, which includes establishing laws and treaties.

The first three articles are essentially job descriptions of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The responsibilities of these posts are the real functions.

I'm not comfortable with the two choices you present. Either ones implies that government does not trust the people.

 

[TemplarKormac]

To encourage people to be dependent. Which is a bad thing. This poll doesn't quite encompass the entire issue.

 

[Wacky Quacky]

Between the two options in the poll, I chose "To encourage people to do good".

The other option will simply make people do nothing.

But that answer is only within the context of the topic and may be different with a more in depth choice.

 

[dblack]

To encourage people to be dependent. Which is a bad thing. This poll doesn't quite encompass the entire issue.

It's not intended to. The entire issue is far too large for a poll. I'm merely interested in the distinction between people who see the government as a tool to generally guide us toward the 'one right way to live', and those who see it as a means of getting along in a plurality of different 'right ways'.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

To provide endless free stuff and pass never ending laws that erode our freedoms.

 

[Listening]

To encourage people to be dependent. Which is a bad thing. This poll doesn't quite encompass the entire issue.

It's not intended to. The entire issue is far too large for a poll. I'm merely interested in the distinction between people who see the government as a tool to generally guide us toward the 'one right way to live', and those who see it as a means of getting along in a plurality of different 'right ways'.

One choice is to suggest that government take an active role in encouraging a particular behavior.

The other is to suggest that government take an active role in discouraging behavior.

I would say that it is not their role to encourage anything except the allowance of rights of individuals by other individuals (which really takes the form of punishing people for violating those rights....).

So, it is pretty clear to me that the second choice (given the two) is the better choice.

And, again, I will qualify this by saying this is with regards to the federal government.

It changes as we talk about different governments.

 

[Publius1787]

Neither.

None is everything, everything is nothing. If there is no incentive to forego crime then why have government at all?

 

[jasonnfree]

To provide advanced industrial infrastructure, bailouts, subsidies and regulatory support to business, but take no credit for it. To protect Exxon's oil fields in the middle east, but don't talk about it. To protect the global supply chains and trade routes of business. To fund and develop the satellite technology used by telecom to make massive profits. To fund Boeing and provide massive financial and R&D support to the development of commercial aviation. To provide the private sector with technological advances that came out of the Cold War Pentagon and NASA. To build highways, energy plants, water facilities . . . which is so valuable to commerce. To make sure that nobody ever talks about the things government does to help profit makers.

But make sure that nobody knows

Coincidentally this is also the purpose of the republican party.

 

[bripat9643]

In the end, government is simply the machinery of exploitation and robbery. It serves no other purpose.

Franz Oppenheimer: The State (0) table of contents & introduction

"What, then, is the State as a sociological concept? The State, completely in its genesis, essentially and almost completely during the first stages of its existence, is a social institution, forced by a victorious group of men on a defeated group, with the sole purpose of regulating the dominion of the victorious group over the vanquished, and securing itself against revolt from within and attacks from abroad. Teleologically, this dominion had no other purpose than the economic exploitation of the vanquished by the victors."​

 

[NoTeaPartyPleez]

I know, I know, "it's not that simple", but if you had to go with one of these statements, which are you more comfortable with?

The purpose of government is to protect the rights of its citizens, whether it is a foreign predator or a domestic one, i.e. Al Queda and Wall Street. Americans need protection from the hostile infiltration and possible loss of life by the first and the hostile monopolization of our economy by the second.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

I know, I know, "it's not that simple", but if you had to go with one of these statements, which are you more comfortable with?

The purpose of government is to protect the rights of its citizens, whether it is a foreign predator or a domestic one, i.e. Al Queda and Wall Street. Americans need protection from the hostile infiltration and possible loss of life by the first and the hostile monopolization of our economy by the second.

We need protection from our govt.

 

[Jackson]

To provide advanced infrastructure which includes an army for its defense; a highway and transportation system, a monetary and banking system;

an executive branch that oversees a foreign treaty department;

a branch of government that passes laws for its citizens;

a judicial branch made up of courts and judges using the laws to apply fairness to all the citizens in disputes. No one branch is all powerful over the others as it is supposed to be today.

Let it be known that there is a core government and not a nanny government,

 

[NoTeaPartyPleez]

I know, I know, "it's not that simple", but if you had to go with one of these statements, which are you more comfortable with?

The purpose of government is to protect the rights of its citizens, whether it is a foreign predator or a domestic one, i.e. Al Queda and Wall Street. Americans need protection from the hostile infiltration and possible loss of life by the first and the hostile monopolization of our economy by the second.

We need protection from our govt.

And that is the true meaning behind the 2nd Amendment.

 

[dblack]

I wanted to talk about this because it seems like something that doesn't necessarily divide along party lines. Both attitudes are common in both major parties, and sometimes it seems to me a more important difference than the usual liberal/conservative split.