September 13, 2005
Business, government and society
The purpose of government is to help its citizens do for themselves, not to do things for them and certainly not to get in the way of their efforts to help themselves. The Katrina experience has highlighted the inability of government on all levels to act swiftly and effectively. It also highlighted the amazing resiliency of communities, as well as the amazing efficiency of the private sector firms and non-profit organizations.
My conservative friends and I talk about government in rather pejorative terms. That is because it is so facile and fun. It is similar to the way many liberals go after business. But it certainly is not the whole story.
Conservatives don't oppose all government and we don't want government to be weak. We recognize the need for the rule of law. We know there are things that only government can do. But we also recognize the important limits to what government can do and what we should ask it to do.
Sometimes the goal is right, but government is the wrong tool to achieve it. Private entrepreneurial activity and vision, not bureaucratic government, is responsible for most of the heavy lifting. Inviting the government to solve your problem is often like accepting the Kanamit invitation to serve man.
Government is a blunt instrument. It is good at macro things (fighting WWII, building Interstate highways) but it falls down on the details. Private firms can't by themselves win wars or build major highway systems, but they can deliver a pizza to your door thirty minutes after you decide you want one. They are different skill sets. I wouldn't assign Dominoes to take Omaha Beach and it is equally absurd - although less immediately evident - that the government should stay out of food business.
In the U.S., we have a significant third power- private charities. The U.S. is an exception among the world's countries in that so much of our social sector is handled by voluntary organizations. What most Europeans do through their taxes, we do through private charities and NGOs. It has been that way since at least the time of Alexis de Tocqueville and probably won't change anytime soon. It is the part of America that is least understood by foreigners and by many Americans alike.
When each part of our society is strong, we are much better off. I want a strong government, but one that knows its limitations.
J. Anthony,
Great article except I think it is in the wrong column. It should be in the middle column, published as a libertarian article.
The republican party, much like the democratic party, has strayed from their original ideals until they no longer represent them anymore.
From constitutional amendments to legislate private behavior to bringing personal religions into the political spectrum, the republican party has gone a long way to introduce the federal government into our lives in ways that our founding fathers would find very disturbing indeed.
Make the jump! The more people who feel that a government that governs best is one that governs least that leave the republican party that has failed them, the more power we together will have as a voting block,
Posted by: Rhinehold at September 13, 2005 02:49 PMRhinehold,
Interesting comment. So, just what are the similarities between the Libertarian party and the Republican party? I’m admittedly ignorant on this issue.
Great article except I think it is in the wrong column. It should be in the middle column, published as a libertarian article.
Rhinehold, I would agree as I am one that has gradually over the last year or so have begun to see that the Republicans in power (not necesarilly the voting conservatives) have completely given in to the pressure to compete in a 2 party system. Just as the Democrats they have put the “party” needs ahead of the nation’s best interest. I am not convinced that either party has any interests other than making sure they regain or stay in power.
Jack, your article along with some other articles I have seen (such as the Wall Street Journal about the lightning quick response from companies like Walmart and Home Depot) makes me ponder how much faster FEMA might have been had it been run by the private sector? Walmart did not have to wait for the red tape to be cut in order to get in there and fix issues… Perhaps FEMA would be better run if it was a Non-profit organization run by the private sector (such as the Red Cross)… No doubt it would have to work directly with the federal government, particularly in situations where the military must get involved, but it may be better suited to move quickly if it were not tied directly to the painfully slow and non-detail oriented Federal Government.
What all of you are doing is putting your political spin on anecdotal evidence and incomplete analysis.
Katrina showed that there ARE private sector companies that COULD respond quickly and effectively — they planned ahead and implemented their plan
What you don’t see are the companies that COULD Not OR DID NOT respond quickly nor efficiently, including some of the companies that did business in LO and had a personal stake in having a good Hurricane Plan.
Katrina pointed out the the Gov’t also is capable of quick and efficient response — Look at the Coast Guard and other Emergency Services that were proactive and acted to save lives.
It also showed that Gov’t is capable of fallin on its face.
Hmmmm what are the common denominators and what diferentiated the successes from the failures?
Couple of points, we cannot rely totally on the private sector — SOMEONE has to provide the overall coordination of all efforts, private and public, otherwise you have Wal Mart showing up with too much stuff where it isn’t needed and too little where it is — or you have Wal Mart and 6 other large firms all converging on the same place — while other, as needy areas, receive no response.
The only entity that can provide the overall coordination — as well as the level of resources needed on a scale of something of this magnitude is the Federal Gov’t — Why can’t some of you people get over the fact that there is an appropriate function for the Feds in something like this, and it doesn’t necessarily have to involve the revocation of individual, nor states rights.
GET OVER IT
Libertarians
Do you want Haliburton running your war?
Rely totally on WalMart for disaster response??
Who pays them, who decides who does what, and who gets paid what — they ain’t going to do the WHOLE job for FREE ya know, it is one thing TO DONATE SUPPLIES — it is an entirely another thing to take on the responsiblity (and liability) of RUNNING the whole show.
Ciao
OK, well let’s see what government is good at, and bad at.
Let’s start with the bad….
The entire Executive Branch and Congress:
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Homeland Security: F
Pretending to care about Homeland Security while allowing open boarders, refusal to prosecute employers of illegal aliens, promoting amnesty for illegal aliens, and callin’ “Minute Men” vigilantes, airline security is still a joke; INS is still a joke, etc.
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War On Terror: F
It’s a slam dunk.
And, yes, this is truly disgusting: (D.R. wrote) 100’s of millions of your and my hard earned tax dollars, if not more, to Gen Musharaaf, the dictator of Pakistan, whose nation continues to function as home for OBL. Talk about supporting the enenmy?
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Social Security: F
Bush didn’t start this, but he failed to resolve it too. And they keep spending the surpluses that will be needed later.
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Medicare: F
this is already in deep $#!+
there are $trillions in looming shortfalls;
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Medicaid: F
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National Debt: F
I’d give a lower grade if one existed.
The current $8 trillion national debt (which has grown every year for the last 45 years) represents about $50 trillion in interest payments over the next 127 years (and that’s only if they stop immediately borrowing $1 billion per day, and start paying down the debt by $1.03333 billion per day (anything smaller and the debt continues to grow larger)); the federal government is completely fiscally irresponsible, and guess who profits and will suffer most for that ?
See: home.comcast.net/~d.a.n/NationalDebt.xls
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Legal System: F
a dysfunctional and corrupt legal system ; perversion of the laws to do the very things they are supposed prevent; insufficient or selective law enforcement; legal plunder (e.g. abuse of eminent domain laws (see supreme court ruling), wealth re-distribution, plundered entitlement systems, too many greedy, corrupt, and parasitic ambulance chasers, and idiotic juries allowing astronomical judgments for personal injury litigation with million$ and billion$ going to lawyers, etc.); releasing repeat offenders to repeat crimes of rape, child molestation, murder, etc.); pardons by presidents to release convicted criminals; violation or insufficient protection of basic rights (e.g. discrimination, and crimes based on religion, race, gender, age, wealth, sexual preference, etc.), and execution and incarceration of innocent people;
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Election Reform: F
a dysfunctional election system; election fraud; unfair and illegal barriers preventing third party candidates from getting on election ballots; limited voting choices and candidates (which could be improved by an Approval Voting system); corrupt campaign finance; negative campaigning; pandering; influence by wealthy and/or powerful special interest groups; government for sale; buying elections; 90% of elections are won by the candidate with the most money, giving rise to an elitist and arrogant government;
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Health Care: F
increasingly unaffordable and unreliable health care and health insurance; the reasons for this have not been addressed at all; while health care shouldn’t be the job of government, their meddling is the cause of many of the problems in health care in the U.S.; politicians pretend to care deeply for the increasingly unaffordable and unreliable health care crisis, while doing nothing to solve the problem. Why should they? They’re covered by their cu$hy benefits paid for by the tax payers. The problem will never be solved until the middlemen (i.e. government and health insurance companies) are removed from the equation, and people begin to pay the health-care providers directy.
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Energy Vulnerability: F
no energy plan; insufficient dedication to implement alternate fuel and power sources;
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Tax System: F
tax cuts for the wealthiest, a ridiculously, unfair, and abused tax system;
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Corporate/Investor Fraud: F
cooking the books; stock fraud; failure of the SEC to regulate and adequately prosecute violators; the previous administration was also responsible for this too; corporatism; Read John Perkins book: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
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Pension Systems: F
mismanagement of pension systems; insolvent and plundered pensions; pensions in the U.S. are $1.6 trillion in the hole (JUN-2005); the GPBC is $350 trillion in the hole; tax payers, once again, are going to get stuck with the bill;
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Globalization: F
globalization and outsourcing, falling incomes, declined manufacturing (will we forget how to make things?), the race to the bottom; H1B visas, etc.; it’s not a global village…it’s global pillage;
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Foreign Policy: F
foreign policy that alienates allies;
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Education: D
declining quality of public education; decreasing numbers of science and engineering graduates; falling scores in most subjects;
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Crumbling Infrastructure: F
roads, bridges, tunnels, railways, ports, air ports, buildings, water treatment, etc.;
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FEMA: F
New Orleans. Need we say more?
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Abused Presidential Pardons: ??? don’t know yet
It will be interesting to see who Bush pardons. Clinton gets an F- ; what Clinton did was absolutely disgusting. Clinton even pardoned people that pled guilty (like Dan Rostenkowski).
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Transparency, Responsibility and Accountability: F
Until we get ONE Purpse Per Bill , we’ll have no fiscal responsibility in congress. Currently, bills are laden with pork and no one knows why anyone voted for or against it.
We are in dire need of other such no-brainer simplifications, and transparency.
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_____Now, to be fair, there are somethings that the government does very well:_____
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Government for Sale: A+
Nobody does it better.
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Ignoring Pressing Problems: A+
both main parties can skillfully ignore the many pressing problems facing the nation, while appearing to be work hard to doing something about it. They both rarely take on tough issues that may risk their re-election. That’s why our many pressing problems continue to grow in number and severity.
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Negative Campaigning: A+
Both parties are very skilled at negative campaigning, and they both reject Election/Campaign/Finance Reform. Unfortunately, government is for sale, and influenced by some elite that abuse vast wealth and power.
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Blocked Access to Polls and Debates: A
They both did a great job of trying to block access to voting ballots and election debates by independent and third party candidates (e.g. Ralph Nader 2004). That’s unconstitutional, but the exclusionary-main-parties are getting away with it, as they limit the choices to just the Republicans and Democrats.
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Vote for Raises and Perk$: A
They both can do one thing very quickly; quicker than anything else: vote themselves a raise ? and that’s while everyone else is suffering (like when they voted themselves raises while massive layoffs and a recession were in full swing). In fact, raises are now automatic, unless they explicitly vote against them. Where else can you get that kind of deal?
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Spending: A
They both like to tax and spend and borrow as much as possible. It’s like shootin’ pork in a barrel.
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Pandering: A+
both parties pander and make promises they can’t or won’t keep, and do almost anything it takes to get re-elected (especially, when it comes to promising new, vast, enormous, and extremely costly entitlement systems), such as prescription drugs, health care systems, etc.
both also successfully perpetuate the myth that we can all live at the expense of everyone else.
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Broken Promises: A+
It may be the disease that strikes politicians after getting elected, but their expert at making promises they can’t or won’t keep (e.g. “read my lips”).
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Grow Government: A
both parties are experts at growing government to nightmare proportions (and National Debt too).
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Fool the People: A+
Both parties are irresponsible and unaccountable, but still manage to successfully convince the people unwittingly continue to vote for them and empower them to continue to be irresponsible and unaccountable. Well done indeed ! ROTFLTAO
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D.a.n
No fair pasting the same drivel in more than one column. If you want to be more than a one trick pony, show some originality. Even Madonna comes out with a new version of herself every few years, instead of remaining the “Material Girl” forever.
Jack:
Great article, and very true, as are Russ’s comments. Walmart in this scenario is kind of like the backup quarterback on a football team. When all you have to do is play a couple plays every now and then, its easy to overlook the possible mistakes you might make in full time play. Walmart deserves credit along with the other companies that have helped, and they are quite necessary as helpers, but lets never expect that they could do it alone without some level of government coordination.
Posted by: joebagodonuts at September 13, 2005 04:24 PM
Joe,
No one is saying there should be NO governmental coordination, but did it have to be federal in this case? And if so, how large of an organization does it have to be? Could it rely more on private organizations like the Red Cross, who many foreign countries feel more comfortable giving money to because they know, as we all do I suspect, that the level of governmental waste that we see on a daily basis ensures that little of the money that federal organizations like FEMA receive actually go to help anyone.
Posted by: Rhinehold at September 13, 2005 04:31 PMWhile some of the problems were exaggerated, it’s pretty much a given that doesn’t do most things efficiently.
And, I don’t think we’ve got to worry about government being weak. The danger is more oftent the opposite side of the spectrum.
In the beginning, the government was mostly only supposed to provide for the national defense.
Now look at the nightmarish proportions it has grown to (and continues to grow).
Russ, Joe et al
I never said Wal-Mart should replace government and the post is not meant to be anti-government. The point is that each has its own skill sets and places where it can work best.
What worked in the government response proved this. The operations run by or similar to those run by the Pentagon were very successful. Our government is good at these kinds of operations. The least successful were the societal functions – persuading people to leave town, getting individuals to cooperate, getting supplies to the right places in a timely manner. Maybe the problem really isn’t that government screwed up. Maybe it is that government – any government – has trouble carrying out these functions. Fortunately, we have other options, if we choose to allow them.
Nothing to say that government can’t “coordinate”; it just can’t manage details.
Make the jump! The more people who feel that a government that governs best is one that governs least that leave the republican party that has failed them, the more power we together will have as a voting block,
I left the Republican party back when Nixon was in his first term. I’m still conservitive and cann’t bring myself to vote for the likes of what the Democrats have offered in a hell of a long time.
Neither party has represented the people in close to forty years.
What we need is a third and maybe a fourth party.
I like the Constitution party and am trying to get it on the ballot in GA.
jack,
Great article! I think it’s wise for each of us to play to our strengths.
My question for disenters: If people rely on these organizations to provide such goods and services in non-crisis situations, why is it such a stretch for y’all to rely on them during crisis situations?
Posted by: Stephanie at September 13, 2005 07:09 PMI’d also like to say, that while repealing some of the requirements and regulations to stream-line the process of rebuilding is recommended, make sure those that are ignored are not the ones that will make these areas more able to withstand a hurricane next time. Simply put: let building codes stand, they’re there for a reason!
Posted by: Stephanie at September 13, 2005 07:11 PMRon Brown,
“Make the jump! The more people who feel that a government that governs best is one that governs least that leave the republican party that has failed them, the more power we together will have as a voting block,”
I got an odd letter the other day. Basically it said that if I didn’t send more money, I would lose my “card-carrying member” status with the GOP. The funny thing about that is… I never joined the GOP. I never had a card and certainly never carried it.
The Constitution Party is cool, though. My husband is a card-carrying member of that party, literally and very proud of it.
Just makes me wonder…
Posted by: Stephanie at September 13, 2005 07:16 PMStephanie
That was certainly a scam. The Republican Party is very enthusiastic to get your contribution, but it does them no good to push you out. I tend to give during election cycles, but then sometimes don’t in between. The letters I get are very sad and they try to lay the guilt trip, but they never threaten.
It is interesting that I have recently begun to get letters from Howard Dean and Teddy Kennedy. They look very personal and they greet me as a fellow Democrat and ask for money to defeat Bush and his cabal. I do wonder what demographic research led them to me. Kennedy and Dean are particularly odious. All they need do is include Jesse Jackson and they have all three stooges.
Make the jump!Ron, Yes, that’s important. We need to get as many independents and 3rd parties on the ballots as possible. We need more choices, which are key to ever potentially getting new faces in government. We also need to confront the main-parties that are blocking access, before they’re permanently blocked, and we’re left with only two choices.
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Regarding this article and the problem with government.
Do we need all of these departments, agencies, commissions, committees, services, boards, bureaus, affairs, councils, coalitions, staffs, systems, administrations, NPR, endowments, foundations, corps, centers, authorities, offices, etc.: home.comcast.net/~d.a.n/DoWeNeedAllOfTheseGovernmentOfficesDepartmentsAgenciesCommitteesEtc.htm
It’s government of nightmare proportions.
How can government do one thing right when it meddles in everything, and doing most of it wrong ?
The point is, government wants to control everything, meddle in everything, but be responsible for nothing.
Government needs to cut way back.
It’s beyond a shadow of a doubt massive waste.
Federal government shouldn’t be meddling in all of these areas. It’s truly mind boggling.
In the beginning, the federal government was only supposed to do a few things, like national defense.
Now look at it. Need anyone say more ?
Just look at the list and all the things government meddles in (usually making things dysfunctional where ever it meddles).
Then look at www.cagw.org
This will make your blood boil.
Here’s just a few…
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[] $75,000 for Onondaga County for the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame;
[] $150,000 added in conference for the Coca-Cola Space Science Center in Columbus, Ga.;
[] $250,000 added by the House for the North Creek Ski Bowl in the district of House appropriator John Sweeney (R-N.Y.);
[] $250,000 added by the Senate for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn. to support community programs;
[] $775,000 for the Biltmore Hotel in the district of Rep. Ileana Ros- Lehtinen (R-Fla.);
[] $100,000 for the Tiger Woods Foundation;
[] $300,000 for Baltimore for the relocation of the Center Garage;
[] $5000 for gold embossed cards for Air Force One
Also, be prepared to see how much pork-barrel finds its way into the Hurricane Relief Aid.
There are more jobs in government than all the jobs in manufacturing in the U.S.
Perhaps we can’t see the forest, for the trees ?
The problem is government, like a nightmare, has grown so big, so inefficient, so ridiculously incompetent, and corrupt, that it quite possibly no longer adds any net benefit to society.
Then take a close look at the people running everything (the Executive Branch and Congress).
Do you think they’re responsible and accountable
Of course not!
We’ve got a big problem.
And, those in power aren’t going to let go of it.
They’ll never cut spending.
They’ll never cut pork-barrel.
They’ll never cut graft.
They’ll never advocate election reform.
They’ll never advocate term limits.
They’ll never tackle tough issues requiring touch decisions.
They’ll never cut personnel.
They’ll never cut unnecessary departments.
They’ll never cut stop growing government to nightmare proportions.
They’ll never stop pandering.
They’ll never stop borrowing.
They’ll never cut reform.
They’ll never stop being irresponsible and unaccountable.
They’re not even that different: home.comcast.net/~d.a.n/MainPartySimilarities_NoBackLinks.htm
Not until forced to do so.
What is it that will force government to finally be responsible and accountable ?
Most likely:
[1] steady economic decline (which could last quite a while, until it finally decays into depression (or worse)).
[2] and/or, voters start holding politicians accountable, voting out the bums, recalling the bums, and getting more choices on the ballots.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to revisit [1] before we get to [2] , because people don’t ever seem motivated to do anything until it’s absolutely necessary. For example, look at the idiots that could evacuate the path of a hurricane, but didn’t. Then, after it’s too late, they want to be rescued. Never mind that their own stupidity endangers rescuers and those that could not evacuate. Why? What do they have now to show for that stupid decision ? And consider the Civil War. Some selfishly didn’t want to give up their slaves. Idiots. So, in the end, what are they left with? (And, please don’t give me a lecture about it not being about slavery; it was about states rights, etc.). In both cases, not much was left that hadn’t been destroyed. And, consider the Great Depression. It also was a result of fiscal irresponsibility and unaccountability. But, we had to visit it, wallow through it, and suffer, before it got any better. And, it was the generation that emerged from the American Revolution, and the Great Depression, and World War II that made us proud, that sacrificed so much for a worthy cause. They were the silent, strong generation. And, now look what we’ve done. We’ve squandered it. We’re back to selfishness (like before the Civil War), greed, and moral and fiscal irresponsibility and unaccountability (like before the Great Depression). Yes, sadly, those that do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it, over and over. Unfortunately, we seem doomed to revist hard times. Unfortunately, it seems things can’t get better until they get much worse.
But, wouldn’t it be nice if everyone stopped being so selfish, blaming everyone else, wanting to be coddled and cared from from cradle to grave, wanting to live at the expense of everyone else; and started, finally, being responsible and accountable ?
To start with, I don’t think Social Security and Medicare can survive. I’m willing to forfeit mine. Others 50 or younger should consider it too. Then, we should revise the tax system to be fair. Of course, we probably won’t do any of that. Like those in the Civil War, and those that are too stupid to get out of the path of a hurricane, they’re going to end up nothing anyway by selfishly hangin’ on ?. Keep on doin’ the same thing, no matter how probable each step seals a fate more severe than it had to be.
I was happy to see President Bush set Davis - Bacon aside for federally funded reconstruction. Hiring local people to help in rebuilding just makes sense, strengthens pride in ownership, keeps the money circulating in the area where it is needed the most and provides jobs for the less skilled in the area.
The law was enacted in 1931, a time when the country was racist, to prevent wage competition from black out-of-state contractors. It was used by Mayor Daley in the renovation of Cabrini-Green housing project, keeping the residents of that community off of the payroll and for some without skills on welfare.
It is used through out the country at public works projects, allowing only skilled employees on site there-by escalating the cost of schools, libraries, city and state office buildings and should be repealed permanently.
Posted by: George at September 13, 2005 09:48 PMI would like to think government mismanagement starts at the Pentagon. Do we really need to give billions of dollars to things that destroy?
I don’t see how Katrina could have worked better from the private sector. There’s no profit to feed from. I would like to hear how the private industry would have worked better in the aftermath of Katrina.
Ok Katrina hit. The govt did not respond. Do you think the govt can clean up this mess? Keep dreaming. Do you realize what a pia a govt contract is? I have to hire so many minorities. I have to hire so many male and female. I have to only have the workers do certain jobs. If I ask someone to do another job and that category pays more I become liable for the difference in pay. The labor board comes in and investsigates me. You don’t like a certain company because the CEO gets too much money. Fine. Don’t buy their product. Think health care cost are too high. Great. If you eat right, exercise, lose weight, stop smoking, and stop drinking, then you wouldn’t have as much strain on the system as there is. Stay out of the emergency room, your kid crying in the middle of the night because he has a ear ache is not an emergency. Chest pain is a possible emergency. A severe headache is a possible emergency. Gun shots are an emergency, Stab wounds are an emergency, Car accidents with trauma are an emergency. Stop asking for everything to be done for the massive stroke or head trauma pt. Hospital are required to give a certain amount of free care if they accept Medicare or Medcaid. Who is paying for the hospital, staff, equipment? Contracts are made with insurance companies with set reimbursement. Who is paying for that free care?
If you thing home land security will protect you then join the 50’s duck and cover under a desk. It will be just as effective.
Education. Do you check you kids homework? Get them up in the morning, give them breakfast and send them to school? Do you know what your kid is learning? IS it important to you for them to learn about the big bang or God made it? Who knows, Who cares? What about math, english, reading? Do you say I don’t have the time? I’m poor and have to work two jobs. If you had a child raising them is your job. When did your choice become my responsibility? Are you involved with the school? I have heard people say that I can’t understand the stock market. Your right you can’t. If you don’t take the time to learn you never will.
Compaign about the enviroment. Look at your trash can you push to the curb once a week. Is it full? Then you want someone else to fix the problem. You are doing nothing.
Mad at the legal system? Criminals? The majority of them are not murders, rapist, and child abusers. They are in prison because of minor crimes that carry jail terms. We need to stop sending young kids to prison finishing schools. Having a prison record eliminates ou from many jobs. I doubt anyone on here has never broken a law. Do I take away you ability to earn a living because of it? Stop thinking that somebody else owes you something because something went wrong. We need the right to sue I agree. Firestone tried to cover up the problem. The courts did not allow that to happen. The states sued the tobacco companies and won. IDd that money go to help those addicted to smoking? Did we shut the tobacco companies down? Most states decided to spend the money on educaiton. Has it made a difference. Wouldn’t it been better to have them pay for stop smoking programs and cut down on the heath care cost? Did we raise a cry that maybe we needed to do that? Nope, we had the money and the people wanted education improvements.
The govt gives us what we complain about. People think Bush did wonderful after 9/11. Why? Not because he really did anything effective but because he talked tough. Give me a break. We need to clean up our own house before we try to clean up the rest of the world Do I care about abortion? No. Do I care abut gay marriage? No. Why don’t I care? Right now those issues are so far down of the list of important problems that I don’t have the time. We the people put that mess on ballots because it was so important. I don’t care what Roberts thinks of those issues. I care what his record says how he makes decisions. Worried about globalization. Then stop the unions from sayng that a woman standing in front of a machine watching that same said machine putting labels on the bottles requires her to be paid 17.00 and hour. Upset about Globalization? Stop buying the things made overseas. Think we won the cold war? We bankrutped the USSR. Do you really think that it will not happen to us? WHy aren’t pensions a public issue? THe govt had told us there is a problem. Why aren’t we up in arms? It is because we are more worrried about abortion and Ben wants to marry Jerry than we are about what we are going to do when we retire. We supported a war in Iraq, we did not worry about roads, bridges, floods. Each state wants pork. It brings jobs and money to our state. We complain about pork when the other state is getting it. If you think that our economy will only have a steady decline. Think again. It could crash in a matter of months. People keep saying vote them out. Somehow we think that the other guy is responsible and keep voting our guy back in. We are getting what we asked for in spades.
Rhinehold:
In a situation like Katrina that involves multiple states, I think a federal response is necessary, and federal coordination. That having been said, the feds actually need to provide coordination, as opposed to additional layers of bureaucratic red tape.
Jack:
One problem is the expectations people now have of government. We have stopped looking at the massive amount of help the govt has provided for many Katrina victims, and have focused on the gaps in the support. And we should try to fix those gaps, of course. But we shouldnt minimize the successes.
Look at Niger, where thousands of children are at risk of death from malnutrition. The regional governments along with the UN etc are not providing solutions to the problem. The level of response there is far far less adequate than what has happened in the Gulf Coast, yet so too are the expectations.
We need to recognize that government is simply not capable of providing for every need. There will always be gaps.
This is not to condone the missteps, but it is to point out that in ANY and EVERY disaster, there will be missteps. People now want to suggest that there were no missteps during Hurricanes Hugo and Andrew, when of course at the time, there was the same bitching and moaning going on.
d.a.n
Well, I wouldn’t call it drivel.Posted by d.a.n at September 13, 2005 04:31 PM
I’ll admit my error. You are right—it was not drivel. It was odious, partisan, repetitive drivel. :)
C.L.O. wrote: If you think that our economy will only have a steady decline. Think again. It could crash in a matter of months. People keep saying vote them out. Somehow we think that the other guy is responsible and keep voting our guy back in. We are getting what we asked for in spades.
Sad, but true. Yes, the reality is that we most likely will not ever reform government, or ourselves. While I hold out a small bit of hope, I really believe we’ll have to hit the very bottom of the gutter, before we’ll ever get back on the road to recovery. It seems we can’t help ourselves … it’s our inescapable nature to repeat history.
joebagodonuts,
Sorry…it seemed like it fit here perfectly (business, government, society).
Yes, I’m repetitive, because all the other stuff doesn’t seem very important, and seems rooted in one core problem (at least in my single-minded mind). It seems odious, but I don’t hate my country or America. It’s just that it really has some serious problems, and my children are future generations are going to pay the price for what appears to be substantial irresponsibility and unaccountability of government, and voters that tolerate it. I’d like to hear more solutions. I see a lot of criticism (me guilty too), but few solutions. We’re really all responsible. Yes, partisan perhaps, but not for any main politican party (e.g. not emocratic or Republican; neither of which I support any more, because they’re just takin’ turns).
joebagofdonuts wrote: We need to recognize that government is simply not capable of providing for every need. There will always be gaps.
True. What I’d like to see is much less government.
But sets itself up for blame, because it puts itself in the position to meddle in everything, but is unaccountable for the most part.
And, unfortunately, too many want government to do everything for them, from cradle to grave, wipe their butt, don’t want to take responsibility, and want to blame everyone else, and think we can all live at the expense of everyone else. That’s why we have entitlement systems that are most likely probably to fail, and why government meddles in everything, but doesn’t do very well in most. In fact, many things it does terribly, such as Medicare, Social Security.
But, there are some (too few however) that want less government; that believe federal government is much too big, inefficient, and corrupt. The federal government wants to meddle in everything, we pay a lot of taxes for that meddling, but when things go wrong, government is rarely held accountable. Thus, it’s not worth the high cost.
As for Katrina, the federal government was not the most irresponsible. It was local state and city governments, and the people that could have evacuated, but didn’t, that were truly negligent. The federal government, compared to them, wasn’t too bad. Although, it did shed some light on the fact that Michael Brown didn’t really have much experience in disaster relief.
The fact is, we’re all utlimately responsible.
Lastly, my drivel isn’t all about blame, and criticism, but also offering potential solutions too (i.e. for taxation, entitlements, fighting legal plunder, law enforcement, health care (get rid of middlemen), one purpose per bill, fiscal responsibility, election reform, a better voting system, more choices at the polls, balance of power, information, history, etc.).
Posted by: d.a.n at September 14, 2005 09:17 AMPrivatizing
You make the fundamental error of not understanding the free market’s components. Profit making firms are a key component, but it also includes non-profits and (better) small government. It is a synergy.
We know for certain sure that government can’t run an economy. We also know that private enterprise necessary but not sufficient. The private response to Katrina has been phenomenal. Millions have been donated. Private firms are doing their part. Private individuals are housing thousands of people. This is how the free market works. The key word is free. People chose to do these things. They were not compelled or taxed into them.
To All
The society deserves the gov’t IT elects.
Most of the ills described here fall under the heading of the crap the elected officials pull.
The Pork (that we praise our representatives for bringing to our locale), the special interest fawning, etc etc etc.
So, vote them out?
If you think the gov’t is so bad, why are so many incumbants re-elected?
That only motivates them — we are rewarding them for their poor performance, we are not holding them responsible for their errors, betrayals, etc.
WE are supposed to be the ones that can clean this up, why are WE allowing THEM (“the gov’t”?? it is nothing more than what WE have ALLOWED OUR representatives to do)to get away with it??
There is no hue and cry for all the corruption, greed and misdeeds we see EVERY DAY.
so what makes you think it will change?
(PS don’t think corporations are any better, if no one is “watching” the corporations will act even worse than most gov’ts)
Russ wrote: The society deserves the gov’t IT elects.
Yes, we’re all utilmately responsible.
There is no hue and cry for all the corruption, greed and misdeeds we see EVERY DAY. so what makes you think it will change?
I don’t, but still cling to a small hope it will, that some day, we will vote ‘em all out, repeatedly, and start recalling them too. But, it will probably never happen.
(PS don’t think corporations are any better, if no one is “watching” the corporations will act even worse than most gov’ts)
No doubt about that. Corporatism is more dangerous than bad government, because it actually runs many governments, which like ours, is basically for sell.
I just wonder, Jack, what if it’s the WalMart or the other local business that gets levelled, flooded, or somehow destroyed?
This is the whole point of federal disaster assistance: redundancy. People won’t starve if the local big-box store gets taken out.
Any other approach can lead to the trouble we so recently experienced.
Posted by: Stephen Daugherty at September 14, 2005 10:36 AMStephen
A benevolent government prepared for all situations would be nice, but we can’t have it. Every new event will strain existing arrangements. The Euros brag about their government preparedness, but I have been in Europe during fairly routine floods. It is not so good close up. In this disaster, as in the tsunami, nothing much worked from the government side until the U.S. military showed up. That governments can do well.
I don’t advocate (I say again) giving everything over to the Wal-Marts. The U.S. has a good synergy of business, government and society. This time it worked about as well as it will work. Making the government role bigger would have been disastrous, since in many ways they were the weakest link this time.
To think that this disaster shows the need for more government is (like a second marriage) the triumph of hope over experience.
Jack,
Making the government role bigger would have been disastrous, since in many ways they were the weakest link this time.Bigness isn’t the main issue here. Competence is. Bush did downsize FEMA when it was subsumed into Homeland Security. But the real problem is what was downsized, and who was put in charge.
There are truths in the arguments of liberals and conservatives, as there are truths in the arguments of libertarians and communitarians. Bush it’s true is way too conservative for my taste, but I could find a lot more forgiveness for him if he showed more competence and less blind cronyism.
Another Jack, Jack Whelan, at After the Future, just introduced me to the idea of subsidiarity. He writes:
I’m no fan of bigness. In my ideal world we’d all be hobbits and the most important elected officials would be mayor and PTA president, but we’re living in an enormously complex world with huge systems that need competent management.The small government argument is steeped in nostalgia. It’s no longer relevant in giving us the tools to deal with the the size and complexity of the kinds of problems that we are now confronting, the least of which are natural disasters.
The result is that people like Bush who really believe that big systems don’t work, don’t even try to make them work, and the kind of failures we’re seeing now in NOLA become self-fulfilling prophecies. If you don’t believe big government can work, you virtually insure that it won’t. We need more energy, imagination, and resources committed to making it work more effectively rather than giving up on it.
[Here’s] a plug for the “principle of subsidiarity”, which comes out of Catholic social thought. It was developed in the 19th Century to define a middle way between the top/down command economies typical of socialist states and laisser faire states typical of the robber baron era in the U.S. The idea is that higher levels of government are subsidiary to lower, the opposite of what we ordinarily think, which is that the higher levels rule the lower level. Higher levels have their legitimacy insofar as they effectively serve the needs of the lower levels.
This is the way it should be. Real life happens at the bottom, and people should be allowed to organize and manage their own affairs with as little interference from higher levels as possible. But there are occasions when the lower level has neither the natural competency or the resources to handle certain large-scale needs or projects, and so must be supported by organization at a higher level. The system values what people do at the lowest levels, and is designed to intevene only when the lower level asks for help.
I like that subsidiarity gives us a conceptual framework that strikes the right balance between, on the one hand, the freedom of the individual and of smaller communities to shift for themselves, and on the other, the need for higher levels of support and coordination to deal with successively higher levels of ‘trans-local’ problems and projects. It affims the truth that the most important stuff happens on the bottom, but that some problems can’t be adequately handled at that level, and that systems have to be developed on the next level to compensate in whatever way.The whole thing is worth reading. Posted by: Walker at September 14, 2005 02:54 PM
It is an unfortunate reality that we now find ourselves with the government we deserve. A majority of the American people went to the polls and voted for a person who over simplifies the complex issues of today. He sounds great for 29 seconds. He injects humor where it doesn’t belong. He offers tax relief and suggests that what ever that money would have been spent on is not our reasonability. And we love him for it.
Now, when we find ourselves faced with a crisis of unbelievable proportions the fact that he continues with his witty remarks and simple-minded approach should not surprise us. After all, that’s why we elected him in the first place. The American public needs to wake up to the fact that today we have the president we deserve and that if we continue to elect government based single issues without concern for the bigger picture. We will most likely find ourselves in this position again. The president must represent all the people; He or she needs to take into consideration the needs of all Americans even the ones who didn’t vote for them. That has become a very rare point of view in Washington at late.
The question that we all should be asking ourselves between now and Nov. 2008 is: Have we gained any wisdom about what is truly important in life, or are we going to be hoodwinked again.
Jack,
Making the government role bigger would have been disastrous, since in many ways they were the weakest link this time.Bigness isn’t the main issue here. Competence is. Bush did downsize FEMA when it was subsumed into Homeland Security. But the real problem is what was downsized, and who was put in charge.
There are truths in the arguments of liberals and conservatives, as there are truths in the arguments of libertarians and communitarians. Bush it’s true is way too conservative for my taste, but I could find a lot more forgiveness for him if he showed more competence and less blind cronyism.
Another Jack, Jack Whelan, at After the Future, just introduced me to the idea of subsidiarity. He writes:
I’m no fan of bigness. In my ideal world we’d all be hobbits and the most important elected officials would be mayor and PTA president, but we’re living in an enormously complex world with huge systems that need competent management.The small government argument is steeped in nostalgia. It’s no longer relevant in giving us the tools to deal with the the size and complexity of the kinds of problems that we are now confronting, the least of which are natural disasters.
The result is that people like Bush who really believe that big systems don’t work, don’t even try to make them work, and the kind of failures we’re seeing now in NOLA become self-fulfilling prophecies. If you don’t believe big government can work, you virtually insure that it won’t. We need more energy, imagination, and resources committed to making it work more effectively rather than giving up on it.
[Here’s] a plug for the “principle of subsidiarity”, which comes out of Catholic social thought. It was developed in the 19th Century to define a middle way between the top/down command economies typical of socialist states and laisser faire states typical of the robber baron era in the U.S. The idea is that higher levels of government are subsidiary to lower, the opposite of what we ordinarily think, which is that the higher levels rule the lower level. Higher levels have their legitimacy insofar as they effectively serve the needs of the lower levels.
This is the way it should be. Real life happens at the bottom, and people should be allowed to organize and manage their own affairs with as little interference from higher levels as possible. But there are occasions when the lower level has neither the natural competency or the resources to handle certain large-scale needs or projects, and so must be supported by organization at a higher level. The system values what people do at the lowest levels, and is designed to intevene only when the lower level asks for help.
I like that subsidiarity gives us a conceptual framework that strikes the right balance between, on the one hand, the freedom of the individual and of smaller communities to shift for themselves, and on the other, the need for higher levels of support and coordination to deal with successively higher levels of ‘trans-local’ problems and projects. It affims the truth that the most important stuff happens on the bottom, but that some problems can’t be adequately handled at that level, and that systems have to be developed on the next level to compensate in whatever way.The whole thing is worth reading. Posted by: Walker at September 14, 2005 04:28 PM
d.a.n.
I offer my apology. I did not do a good job of reading your entire post, and I made some poor assumptions.
I’ve said before that one of the foremost things that needs to change is the ability of parties to gerrymander districts. This is the primary reason why incumbents win—-because the game has been rigged in their favor.
Once this is changed, then there is more likelihood that people can vote out those they disagree with. As it is now, it takes such a majority within a district (a rigged district) that it rarely happens.
I’m with you for smaller government, but…in doing so, the people have to accept more responsibility. This is a wedge that typically divides the two main parties, with Dems giving people more of what they want and Reps telling them they need to do it on their own. Different philosophies that each party tries to use against the other one.
Once again, I apologize for my comments, other than that about the repetition. That one stands on its merit. :)
Posted by: joebagodonuts at September 14, 2005 05:15 PMWelcome to the land of the free. Free to come and go as you please. Free to board up windows, free to ignore weather warnings, free to stand on the side of the road out of town with your thumb out begging for a ride, free to take your gasless car to a gas station and beg for gas, free to wait for someone else to come save your ass, free to sit on that ass and pray to God for help.
What ever happened to “[insert your favorite Deity here] helps those who help themselves.” Here again, in times of strife, the question on everyone’s mind becomes: “Who is to blame?” Well I know the answer…. I blame NOAA for not calling you personally to tell you a HUGE hurricane is coming to your house and to leave the area. I blame the Red Cross for not setting up a five star resort outside the predicted hurricane path 3 days before it hit and for not shuttling you there on a charter bus. I blame the mayor for not sending a limo to pick up your poor ass to get you out of town. I blame your mother for not smacking you upside the head more often as a child to knock more sense into you, and you for not smacking your stubborn mother when she said she wanted to stay. I believe it’s President [insert whomever you like here: Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Lincoln, Washington… whatever.]’s fault for making you live below sea level in a geographic region prone to hurricanes. It’s his fault you are poor, have 5 kids and no spouse, car, gas, food, water, scuba gear or gold chains around your neck. It’s his fault your welfare check can’t afford you an Escalade (or in this case a Zodiac with a 15HP Johnson outboard to get your soaking wet ass off your tin roof). [At least the numbskulls in the tornado belt have the common sense to build tornado proof basements to hide in. Oh wait… trailer parks… never mind.]
The people of this nation are becoming weaker and weaker- always looking for someone else to blame for their own predicament. It is always someone else’s fault. I’m tired of people using socio-economic or “poor” as an excuse. “I can’t feed my family ‘cause I’m poor. I can’t get a job ‘cause I’m poor. I can’t get an education ‘cause I’m poor. I can’t [whatever] ‘cause I’m poor.” I grew up poor and busted my ass to not be poor. This country gave me the freedom to do just that. I know that 99% of poor people are poor because they are just plain lazy. “Poor” is a choice, not an excuse.
What has happened to this area and the people in it is a tragedy. We as a country should do what is reasonable to help them. But before you go placing blame and pointing fingers at anyone else, point the finger at yourself (especially those of you waist deep in water) and ask yourself if you personally did everything you could to prevent it.
AMEN!
joebagodonuts wrote: I?ve said before that one of the foremost things that needs to change is the ability of parties to gerrymander districts.
That’s a good point…something I haven’t given a lot of consideration, but have known about for a long time. It always seems that any rules made, once completely understood, then become abused and perverted; especially when there’s a lack of transparency…which may be the problem with gerrymandering, which doesn’t get a lot of publicity.
No apology needed. No offense taken. You’re right about the repetitiveness, consistency, and focus on irresponsible and unaccountable government, and voters that tolerate it.
But, I try to also bear in mind that half (or so) of the readers are not regulars to watch blog. Many readers don’t even post.
And, it helps me refine, learn, and understand the history, reasons, psychology, goals, and potential solutions to maybe, someday, figure out a way to make it better, because, in my opinion, we’ve got some disturbing problems that have been growing for a couple of decades, that seem to be getting ignored because no one knows what to do with them, or dares to risk re-election to make hard decisions to resolve them, as the problems continue to grow in number and severity. The sky isn’t falling yet, but it’s getting less difficult to see an economic meltdown within the next 5 to 15 years, due to an $8 trillion National Debt (representing $50 trillion in interest over the next 127 years), $32 trillion in personal debt (nation-wide), pensions $1.6 trillion in the hole, energy vulnerability, 192 million gallons of gasoline consumed daily (costing about $480 million per day), uncontrollable government spending, borrowing, printing more money, causing inflation & the falling dollar, increasingly unaffordable & unreliable health care, increasingly cost and decreasing quality of education, plundered entitlement systems facing looming shortfalls, open borders & illegal aliens (some are now known to be Al-Qaeda trying to set up cells in the U.S.), urban sprawl, our crumbling infrastructure (bridges, roads, rails, etc.), falling incomes & globalization & the race-to-the-bottom, 77 aging baby boomers nearing time to start expecting benefits from Social Security & Medicare, the War in Iraq & Afghanistan, alienation of allies, etc. (the list is too long and growing).
Casemaker,
I agree with most of that.
The only part I’d disagree with is that poverty is a choice for everyone. Yes, you’re correct that most choose it, but there are a few that don’t have a choice, such as the children and some elderly, and the sick. And, it’s those truly needy that suffer doubly due to the laziness and selfishness of those that could evacuate, and did not, which endangers the rescuers and the truly needy.
It’s interesting how most people (not you) and the media dance around that fact, because they know they’re not helping their image by saying the obvious. There appeared to be a lot of able bodied people that could have walked out of New Orleans (to higher ground) faster than traffic was moving on the highways. Then, some use the excuse: “But where am I supposed to go?” Well, obviously, any place above sea level (and, not their attic), and out of the path of a category 4/5 hurricane would be a good start, and food, water, and shelter should be secondary to evacuation. Those that don’t heed the mandatory evacuations need to understand that they endanger other peoples’ lives unnecessarily, because rescuers don’t have the luxury or ability to decide who is truly needy or who had to stay to help the truly needy, or or who negligently (actually, criminally) didn’t evactuate.
Jack, excellent article. I think everyone can agree that government does some things well, and some not so well. You sound like a Democrat.
The one thing I really liked about the Clinton/Gore administration was their Reinventing Government initiative where they rolled back the federal civilian workforce to 1950s size.
We need to get a Democrat back in office to once again cut back the bloated government Republicans created over the last four years.
AP,
Reinventing American Government? Like the democrats in California are doing? Reinventing the definition of representation?
Posted by: jo at September 17, 2005 12:37 PM
