Wednesday, May 20, 2009
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=36028082&postID=797009918041691559&page=1
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A critique of "A Guide to Rebutting Right-Wing Criticisms of Government"
I will start my critique of governmentisgood.com. I will start with its supposedly "Conservative critisms.
"Government is inept and most government policies fail. "
"A look at the record shows that most government programs work well and have helped considerably to mitigate society’s problems and improve our lives."
By what standard do you know this? The reason most government problems fail is that there is no way to know if the needs of the consumer are being met. A private business, with the tools of profit and loss, can obtain the data reliably.
"Bureaucracies are immensely wasteful."
"Studies show that most government bureaucracies are not very wasteful."
By what studies? Bureaucracies are immensely wasteful because they have no profit/loss test to determine if they are being wasteful or not.
"Government only interferes with the efficient operation of a market economy. Capitalism would be better off without government."
"Free-market capitalism could not exist without an active government that provides the extensive legal infrastructure that creates and regulates markets and that enables corporations to do business."
In a free market, if people need a legal system, they can hire others to provide that service. Markets, in addition, are self-regulating, and do not need a government to "regulate" them.
"Government is the problem. Its programs create more problems than they solve."
"Government policies are the source of few of our serious societal problems. Problems like poverty, pollution, and lack of health care have their sources in the private sector – not the public sector."
Actually, you got it backwards. Government action creates societal problems in its attempt to solve others. An example is minimum wage (creates unemployment). The private sector is the source of effective solutions to problems like poverty, pollution, and lack of health care, not the public sector.
"The more government programs we have, the less freedom we have."
"Most government programs – such as fire protection, building roads, food stamps, public education, funding scientific research, and Social Security – do virtually nothing to restrict our individual freedoms."
While the ends achieved by government action, such as the ones listed above, don't restrict freedom, the means that government persues to achieve these ends, taxation, and inflation with people being forced to trade with the dollar, violate freedom.
"The main threat to our civil liberties comes from big government."
"Government can sometimes threaten our civil liberties. But on a day-to-day basis, most of us face more serious threats to our civil liberties – such as our rights to privacy and free speech – in our workplaces in the private sector."
1. There is no right to "free speech" and "privacy", only "life", "liberty", and "property" (if justly accquired).
2. As a system that uses coercion, and taxation, to achieve its ends, government violates these rights.
3.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Seperation of poor and state
How much do social programs help the poor? If they help the poor more than they hurt them, then these programs could be good. At first glance, some programs seem to provide a net benefit. Public education seems good, because it will teach future children the skills they need to succeed. Using government funds for charity seems good, because it will help the needy. Minimum wage seems good, because workers who get lower wages gain a bigger paycheck. Unfortunately, these programs create other problems for the poor, and are not worth the cost.
First of all, the public education system is a bad idea. It provides poor quality education, as the school system is mostly designed to cater to the dumbest kids. Instead of giving poor kids equal opportunity to rich kids, the public school system gives them a handicap. The rich kids can simply go to the best schools and get the best education, while the poor are simply stuck with a bad quality school.
Another bad policy is the minimum wage. While it ensures that some workers have a higher, “locked-in” wage, employers simply respond by firing workers. While it increases the wage of some workers, the price floor causes some to be unemployed. This is bad, because these workers are a resource that could fulfill more wants, but are untapped.
Because of unemployment, the government does “public works” projects in order to provide jobs for people. However, the government cannot “provide jobs” for free. As a person gains a job from the state, another is lost, as the Government diverts capital to provide this job.
Fearing that the old would be poor, the State tried Social Security. Unfortunately, this caused some people to live poorly in retirement, because people didn’t get much from Social Security. Also, an aging population in
In order to pay for things, the State needs to tax people, inflate the currency, or borrow money to do this later. This is a “zero-sum” game, where the Government benefits, but the people taxed do not. Unfortunately, this has grave consequences. When taxation, or inflation of the currency, hits the economy, people take fewer risks with their wealth, as they have less. Also, taxation has additional costs needed to make sure people are being taxed the right amount and the costs to catch tax evaders. Inflation also has costs, as it takes resources to print more money. Also, the creation of more money from thin air can lead to a boom and bust cycle.
An additional problem is the inability to calculate where best to use the resources. Without the profit incentive (Government just takes what it wants), Government cannot figure out how to allocate its resources in the most efficient way. In addition, there is no incentive for efficiency. Yet, there is often an incentive for inefficiency, as it can lead government to fund the program more. For example, if the public schools show that they are failing, it will cause an increase in funding through programs like the No Child Left Behind Act.
As a result of this, the whole economy is hurt. People have lower standards of living. Production, investment, consumption, and technological development are stunted, as people bear the costs of Government’s money-making scheme.
Instead of this, it is better for there to be a strict separation of poor and State. Instead of State intervention, the best solution is a free market economy. In this ideal, Government’s role is limited to protect people and their property, from crimes like murder and theft.
A free market system has effective solutions to help the poor. First, businesses are driven by the “invisible hand” of mutual exchange to help the poor. In the free market, poor people can easily gain jobs, and obtain the goods and services that are low cost, but really wanted. Also, people with good intentions will donate more to help these poor people. For these reasons, a policy of separation of poor and state is the best way to help the poor.