"Government isn't the solution; government is the problem."
How many times have we heard this--and from good people, who are smart, articulate, etc. When I hear this line, my first response is always: "Come on now, we all believe in government intervention; now it's simply a matter of degree and efficiency." Once we begin here, then we can discuss rationally, logically. Sure, you may have the but-job brother-in-law who wants NO GUBNINT at all in his bidniss. You can bring up sidewalks, interstate program, rural electrification (RURAL Fucking ELECTRIFICATION!!!!!!!), and he still won't budge. Fine. Kick the dust off your sandals and move along. This is clearly an irrational person.
But for those who like clean drinking water, sidewalks, snow plows, rural electrification . . . well, again, we have a place to begin: degree and efficiency. And once we begin here, you'll quickly notice that degree depends wholly on efficiency. You'd be amazed what citizens will allow if it's done with efficiency, if it's helpful, if it's a non-nuisance. Anyway, I know we all tire of the "government's the problem" argument, but it really is one that's a no-brainer to win. We can always agree with their frustration about inefficiency (insane expenditures, etc.) within government, but we must always go back to, "we all agree on government intervention; it's just a matter of degree and efficiency."
And if they go all Constitution on you, well, that's another thread.
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"What's that," you say, "multiparty appeal?" perhaps you scoff. Allow me to explain.
Hippy bullshit-thinking still dominates the Democratic party. I don't mean all "hippy" ideas were / are bad, but c'mon guys admit it, there's plenty of bullshit in there. And one of those bullshit ideas is very much "government is the enemy." While from the Conservative-Bullshit perspective, the government is evil because it has taxes and stuff, to the Hippy-bullshit perspective, the government is the enemy because of the military and the DEA.
What's more, both styles of bullshit strongly favor ultra-concentration of power in the hands of a very small "elite." Here's how that works from the Hippy-bullshit angle; The entire political thought of this generation amounted to "If we stop doing stuff, things will get better." Drop out of the political system and "the revolution" will come. Never ever get involved with government because that's how "the man" will bring you down, maaaan. Voting is for squares, and civic participwhat? Whereas the conservative-bullshitters are happily and actively trying to transfer all power to a nepotistic ruling class, the hippy-bullshitters are happily doing fuck-all about it; an then using it as justification for happily doing fuck-all about it.
Cut to the present day. What passes for "the left" in America is still largely founded on the ideals of Hippy-bullshitters. Essentially the Democratic party is still pretending it can turn the clock back and live in 1969 (or 1973 if they're like, totally far-out, man.) This is why we have to constantly put up with the debacle of these idiots trying so desperately to be "bipartisan," because of some mythology that that's how it was then so it should be now. And as people who largely buy into the idea that government is the enemy ("Like, remember Nixon, man?"
they are philosophically inacapable of arguing the point with the Republicans - and a sizble chunk of the voting base for Democrats is either similarly impaired, or can only offer lukewarm defenses of government that sound more like someone reading a VCR manual than making an argument.
Bottom line is, we are the government. "of the people, by the people, for the people" is how Lincoln put it, way back when. Someone who says "government is the enemy" is saying democracy is the enemy, that Americans are the enemy.
We the People is the problem.
