Do we need government?

[La Femme Fatale]

Is that not the role policy analysts and think tanks play in the government, though?

 

[LordGolbez]

I Think That We Do Need Government To An Extent. The Reason I Say This Is For Many Of The Reasons The Others Have Said, Police, Fire, Hospitals, Colleges, Trash Pickup And Disposal, Public Transit, And Regulation. Yes Government Can Be Inefficient And Corrupt But If We Didn't Have These Services Most People Would Go Insane. I Find That Fact Ridiculous Because They Harp On About How We Don't Need Government. Everything Has The Ability To Become Corrupt That's Where Citizens Of Democracies Stand Up And Make Themselves Known.

Just Because I Say I Am In Favor Of Government And Many Services It Provides Doesn't Mean I Am In Favor Of Massive Government. Many Things Run By Our Federal Boys Are Messed Up And If Left Up To The States To Try And Find A System That Works For Them It Might Be Better Than A Forced System All Across The Board. Many People Don't Seem To Remember The Days When People Were Killed For Fighting For Simple Things Such As Worker's Rights And Fair Labor Practices. Also Rats And Rat Poison In Your Meat And Unclean Water And No Public Roads, Things Like This Should Be Left To The Federal Government. In Order To Pay For These Things We Need To Give Up A Little Of Our Dough But Think Of What We Get In Return.

As Far As An Economic System I Prefer A Capitalistic Democracy With Some Socialistic Polices. The Reason I Say This Is Because Our Society Needs Innovators And Some Free Room So That They Don't Have A G-Man Breathing Down Their Neck But Face It Not Everyone Is Going To Be An Innovator, People Fall Though The Cracks. Yeah There Will Be People That Won't Work And It's More Than Likely Impossible To Catch Everyone But I Have Seen Too Many People Work Their Asses Off And Not Be Able To Get Help Because They Work To Much. I Would Much Rather Help Someone That Has A Job And Needs A Little Help Than Help Someone Taking Advantage Of The System.

Two Problems That I Have Seen With The American System Of Government Is That We Forgot About Us And The Role We Play. Many People Say That Our Vote Doesn't Matter But It Does And Too Few Of Us Spoke Up While The Rest Were Content To Let Others Do But By Then Corporate America Moved In And Had Money Which Trumps Us Most Everytime.

The Second Is Corporate America And How They Got Into Our Government And Pushed Their Interests Right Over Top Of Ours. The Reason America And Many Other Countries Suffered In 2008 And Still Are In A Few Other Places Is Because Of Deregulation. Just Because People Don't Have A Bunch Of Rules To Follow Doesn't They Are Going To Listen To Want The People Want All The Time. They Are Going To Do Things Shady And Run A Hoo-Doo On You. What If All The Businesses Are In On It? What Then? After Awhile People Will Get Tired Of Fighting And Just Take What They Are Given And Then We Will Start Back At Square One. We Need Someone There To Regulate It And If They Break The Rules They Suffer Penalties.

 

[Meg]

I think anarchy is a naive ideal. Even if we got rid of government and had a true anarchy, it would be chaos. Most people are followers anyway. So most people would flock to the few people who appoint themselves as leaders and we would have a form of government again. And since I doubt everyone would stand behind one person (goodness knows I wouldn't) you would have a bunch of mini-nations fighting over who the hell knows what. So yeah. We need government to prevent idiocy like that from happening.

Oh sure, no government is perfect because no one person is perfect. But I'd rather have a corrupt/stupid/unproductive government than what I described above.

 

[Springhosen]

If government didn't exist, who would play big brother and take our money?

 

[La Femme Fatale]

^ I wouldn't mind taking errybody's moneys. Can I volunteer myself?

 

[JMG29]

Warning: tl;dr rant ahead.

Two Problems That I Have Seen With The American System Of Government Is That We Forgot About Us And The Role We Play. Many People Say That Our Vote Doesn't Matter But It Does And Too Few Of Us Spoke Up While The Rest Were Content To Let Others Do But By Then Corporate America Moved In And Had Money Which Trumps Us Most Everytime.

I know I'm not original when I say this, but I think the biggest cause of this is the two-party system. Both sides have so many inconsistent ideals that it confuses and alienates most people. What does cutting spending have to do with being anti-gay? What does being anti-war have to do with nationalizing healthcare? Belief 1 wants the government out of people's business, and Belief 2 wants the government involved in people's business. The worst part is that they don't even DO the first part most of the time. Both Bush and Reagon increased the deficit, and Obama's warmongering made me renounce any "hope" I had in his presidency.

The Reason America And Many Other Countries Suffered In 2008 And Still Are In A Few Other Places Is Because Of Deregulation.

In Social Studies class, my Modern Liberal teacher showed us a documentary called "House of Cards." In the beginning, it mentioned how Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve artificially lowered interest rates after 9/11, which led to the boom in the housing market. I thought "oh ****, this might turn out to be cool after all!"

I was shocked at how, despite PRACTICALLY ADMITTING that the Federal Reserve started the housing bubble, most of the blame was placed on the so-called "unregulated market." Later on, when the host interviewed Greenspan, the big problem the host had with him was that he and the Fed didn't do enough to stop the bubble. I knew retcons and plotholes are common in fiction (I know this more than anyone, since I'm a Metal Gear fan), but I had no idea they're also present in documentaries too!

In between lunch breaks, my teacher summarized what was shown in the film by listing what caused the housing bubble. "Greedy lenders", "people not making smart choices", "lack of government oversight." I had to tell her "HEY! Don't forget the Fed!" She looked confused and asked me what I meant...

I have yet to even reference articles/videos from free-market think-tanks like The Ludwig von Mises Institute, which has an ideological incentive to blame everything on the government. This is from a mainstream TV documentary that tugs the heartstrings of regulators and planners everywhere, and it STILL blames the Fed, whether the writers realized it or not.

We Need Someone There To Regulate It And If They Break The Rules They Suffer Penalties.

The banks going out of business isn't a big enough penalty? Remember how people were yelling bloody murder about how they were supposedly "too big to fail"? Do you really think that those bailouts "punished" the banks and discouraged them from doing bad business practices ever again? No. All it did was create moral hazard, encouraged banks to be even more risky (knowing that the government would be there if they failed), and gave Socialists a good reason to bitch about so-called "capitalism."
All at the taxpayer's/consumer's expense.

Here's the racist anti-women gay lynching free-market idealouge who predicted this whole mess seven years before it happened;

Oh sure, no government is perfect because no one person is perfect. But I'd rather have a corrupt/stupid/unproductive government than what I described above.

But you're paying them. You're working about 2 to 4 months out of the year for nothing because of them.
If you go to a restaurant and decide that the service is terrible, you can go across the street to find a better alternative. Or just eat at home.
But you're forced to pay taxes, regardless of if the government does a good job or not. You have no choice, or else they'll lock you up and take even more of your property. And whatever they can't tax, they can just devalue the money you actually do get to keep by having the Fed print money out of thin air without you, me, or anyone else even realizing it.

Government was created to protect the people's life and liberty. We need the government to remember its place. We pay them to do very specific jobs and keep the check books balanced. They are by, of, and for the people, NOT above them.

Also, since we're all Resident Evil fans;

 

[LordGolbez]

Warning: tl;dr rant ahead.
I know I'm not original when I say this, but I think the biggest cause of this is the two-party system. Both sides have so many inconsistent ideals that it confuses and alienates most people. What does cutting spending have to do with being anti-gay? What does being anti-war have to do with nationalizing healthcare? Belief 1 wants the government out of people's business, and Belief 2 wants the government involved in people's business. The worst part is that they don't even DO the first part most of the time. Both Bush and Reagon increased the deficit, and Obama's warmongering made me renounce any "hope" I had in his presidency.

I HATE The Party System. It Should Be Just Individual People But Even The Founding Fathers Knew It Would Happen. They Saw Early In Our History That They Would Join With Other Like-Minded People But When They Formed A Party It Was Trouble Because They Would Cast Out Other People On Emotion Instead Of Sitting Down And Having A Debate Or Conversation Like It Should Be. Anymore People Vote Along Party Lines Which Is Stupid Because People Believe What They Are Told To Believe Instead Of Thinking For Themselves.

I Don't Really Think That Obama Did Any Warmongering. I Mean Yeah He Got Involved In Libya But We Never Had Troops On The Ground, We Lent Them Some Jets But Let Other Countries Take Over Combat Operations Even When They Wanted Us To Do It. He Reduced And Pulled Out Troops From Iraq, Yeah A Bit Slower Than He Wanted But When He Got Into Office He Saw It's Not That Simple And It Takes Time. We Are Working On Pulling Some Other Troops Back From Other Countries If I Am Not Mistaken.

A Lot Of People Got Caught Up In The Whole "Hope And Change" Thing But Any Meaningful Change Takes Time Otherwise It Just A Notion And A Pipe Dream. I Voted For Him But I Knew It Would Take Time To See A Lot Of Changes And Many People Didn't Want To Wait. I Remember Like Six Months After He Took Office Someone Said "I Thought He Would Change Things But He Didn't." And I Think "Really? You Thought It Would Go That Quick?"

In Social Studies class, my Modern Liberal teacher showed us a documentary called "House of Cards." In the beginning, it mentioned how Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve artificially lowered interest rates after 9/11, which led to the boom in the housing market. I thought "oh ****, this might turn out to be cool after all!"

I was shocked at how, despite PRACTICALLY ADMITTING that the Federal Reserve started the housing bubble, most of the blame was placed on the so-called "unregulated market." Later on, when the host interviewed Greenspan, the big problem the host had with him was that he and the Fed didn't do enough to stop the bubble. I knew retcons and plotholes are common in fiction (I know this more than anyone, since I'm a Metal Gear fan), but I had no idea they're also present in documentaries too!

In between lunch breaks, my teacher summarized what was shown in the film by listing what caused the housing bubble. "Greedy lenders", "people not making smart choices", "lack of government oversight." I had to tell her "HEY! Don't forget the Fed!" She looked confused and asked me what I meant...

I have yet to even reference articles/videos from free-market think-tanks like The Ludwig von Mises Institute, which has an ideological incentive to blame everything on the government. This is from a mainstream TV documentary that tugs the heartstrings of regulators and planners everywhere, and it STILL blames the Fed, whether the writers realized it or not.

This Is What I Mean About Parts Of Government Being Corrupt. Yes, There Are Going To Be People Who Have Power And They Use It For Their Own Gains But Deregulation Did Play A Role Because The Banks Didn't Have As Many People To Answer To And Those They Did Have To Were On Their Side Because They Were Making Money.

The banks going out of business isn't a big enough penalty? Remember how people were yelling bloody murder about how they were supposedly "too big to fail"? Do you really think that those bailouts "punished" the banks and discouraged them from doing bad business practices ever again? No. All it did was create moral hazard, encouraged banks to be even more risky (knowing that the government would be there if they failed), and gave Socialists a good reason to bitch about so-called "capitalism."
All at the taxpayer's/consumer's expense.

No, They Didn't Punish The Banks But They Played On People's Emotions And Made Them Scared, Especially Politicians Running For Reelection. Also You Have To Remember That Former Bankers Have Wiggled Their Way Into Our Political System And Pushed Their Ideas Above Those Of The People. I Don't Complain About Capitalism Myself Because It's A Good System But It Has It's Flaws Like Any Other. What I Do ***** About Is Corporate Capitalism Because Their Bottom Line Comes First And Only, They Don't Contribute Back To The Community Anymore And You See Very Few Companies That Do Anymore.

But you're paying them. You're working about 2 to 4 months out of the year for nothing because of them.
If you go to a restaurant and decide that the service is terrible, you can go across the street to find a better alternative. Or just eat at home.
But you're forced to pay taxes, regardless of if the government does a good job or not. You have no choice, or else they'll lock you up and take even more of your property. And whatever they can't tax, they can just devalue the money you actually do get to keep by having the Fed print money out of thin air without you, me, or anyone else even realizing it.

Government was created to protect the people's life and liberty. We need the government to remember its place. We pay them to do very specific jobs and keep the check books balanced. They are by, of, and for the people, NOT above them.

I Think A Lot Of This Would Be Solved If We Were To Enforce Term Limits Because Career Politicians Care About The Vote And The Power That Comes With It, Very Few Vote In A Way That Benefits Their Voters. Enforce Term Limits And Make It A Crime To Take Bribes To Vote A Certain Way. I'm Not Talking Some Pansy Little Misdemeanor But A Felony Because When You Vote Against Your Constituents You Are Using The Temporary Granted To You In A Way Not Intended Which I Think Under Some Circumstances Is Tantamount To Treason.

 

[JMG29]

I Don't Really Think That Obama Did Any Warmongering.

http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/obama-and-libya-from-hopemonger-to-warmonger/Content?oid=2610857

I Mean Yeah He Got Involved In Libya But We Never Had Troops On The Ground

As the video I posted demonstrated, there are two sides to every war. You can't brush aside the innocent children Obama bombed just because they're brown not AMERICANS **** YEAH.
Besides, it's completely unconstitutional. Congress never voted on it.

He Reduced And Pulled Out Troops From Iraq

And replaced them with private-military contractors.

War has changed.

A Lot Of People Got Caught Up In The Whole "Hope And Change" Thing But Any Meaningful Change Takes Time Otherwise It Just A Notion And A Pipe Dream. I Voted For Him But I Knew It Would Take Time To See A Lot Of Changes And Many People Didn't Want To Wait. I Remember Like Six Months After He Took Office Someone Said "I Thought He Would Change Things But He Didn't." And I Think "Really? You Thought It Would Go That Quick?"

He resigned The Patriot Act
He signed NDAA
He will probably sign CISPA even though he doesn't like it, just like the previous two.

What change?

These aren't problems that he inherited from Bush and had to deal with. He had a clear-cut choice on whether or not to renew the Patriot Act and sign NDAA. Nothing stopped him from vetoing them. He signed them anyway.

This Is What I Mean About Parts Of Government Being Corrupt. Yes, There Are Going To Be People Who Have Power And They Use It For Their Own Gains But Deregulation Did Play A Role Because The Banks Didn't Have As Many People To Answer To And Those They Did Have To Were On Their Side Because They Were Making Money.

If the banks didn't have the funds from the Federal Reserve, the false housing boom wouldn't have occurred, making regulations redundant

No, They Didn't Punish The Banks But They Played On People's Emotions And Made Them Scared, Especially Politicians Running For Reelection.

What's with the ?
It was a rhetorical question. I'm saying that the "too big to fail" excuse is bull**** and that the banks SHOULD fail, as they would under a free-market.

Also You Have To Remember That Former Bankers Have Wiggled Their Way Into Our Political System And Pushed Their Ideas Above Those Of The People.

What makes you think I need to remember? That's exactly what I'm saying. Corporations are taking advantage of the government, and they certainly aren't using it to create a free-market.

I Think A Lot Of This Would Be Solved If We Were To Enforce Term Limits

There's no reason to believe that it would decrease the amount of corruption. If anything, it forces the few principled politicians (like a certain 12-term congressman) out of office, potentially replacing them with more ***holes.
The president has term limits, and they still get corporate backers for campaigns.

 

[Romero]

Americans who wants no government should have supported Ron Paul.
But alas, it's too late now.

If government didn't exist, who would play big brother and take our money?

My darling, have you forgot about the moderators? They are already "big brothers" and I think they could take your money too.

 

[JMG29]

Americans who wants no government should have supported Ron Paul.

This

But alas, it's too late now.

My darling, have you forgot about the moderators? They are already "big brothers" and I think they could take your money too.

It's the only way to get a gold account.

 

[Romero]

It's the only way to get a gold account.

I know Mitt Romney have not won it yet, but the chances for Mr. Paul and other competitors are very slim. Have not most of them given up already?

And the moderators are not co-owners so they don't get a dime.

 

[LordGolbez]

http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/obama-and-libya-from-hopemonger-to-warmonger/Content?oid=2610857
As the video I posted demonstrated, there are two sides to every war. You can't brush aside the innocent children Obama bombed just because they're brown not AMERICANS **** YEAH.

I'm Not Brushing Them Off The The Side Because They Aren't Americans And I Know There Are Two Sides To Every War. One Side Says They Are Fighting For Patriotism And The Other Says They Are Fighting For The Glory Of God. Both Sides Think They Are Right And That Never Ends Well. All Life In My Opinion Is Sacred And Should Be Protected But War Is Hell. It Happens And I Didn't Like That Some Targets Were Known Hospitals And Schools. That Is Not A Way To Fight A War, Which All Of The Wars After World War 2 I Think Were Pointless.

Besides, it's completely unconstitutional. Congress never voted on it.

I Never Said I Was Happy About Libya, But The Man Was Slaughtering His People. I Was Pleased To Hear That We Played A Minimal Role But Was Not Happy We Were There In The First Place. We Have Our Own Problems Here.

And replaced them with private-military contractors.

.

War has changed.

I'm Also Not Happy About Private Contractors Replacing The Soldiers. I Personally Think That They Should Have No Place In War, But People Pay Well For Mercenaries And Soldiers-Of-Fortune And They Go Where The Money Goes. I Think It's Just Another Example Of Something Our Government Should Not Be Paying For.

He resigned The Patriot Act

He signed NDAA
He will probably sign CISPA even though he doesn't like it, just like the previous two.
What change?
These aren't problems that he inherited from Bush and had to deal with. He had a clear-cut choice on whether or not to renew the Patriot Act and sign NDAA. Nothing stopped him from vetoing them. He signed them anyway.

These Things Also Caught My Attention As Well And Made Me Quite Mad. The NDAA I Know Gave Him The Right To Indefinitely Detain An Individual For "Security Purposes". Cispa Is Really Just SOPA Made Over With A Few Amendments. The Patriot Act Should Be Repealed. It's Trading More Rights For Security Which Is Stupid Because You Can't Make The World Completely Safe. People Are Always Going To Die And Bad Things Are Going To Happen, That's Life And Not Governments' Place To Make All The Bad Stuff Go Away Because Many Times They Make It Worse.

I Do Have To Say That The Economy Is On The Rebound But Still Very Fragile. He Did Try To Work With Both Parties To Bring It Out Of It's Slump But The GOP Said It Would Reject Everything He Put Down Even If It Did Make Sense And The Dems Were Pushing Him To Do All Kinds Of Stuff They Wanted Done So He Got It From Both Sides And Found It Very Difficult To Come To A Compromise. Again Another Reason Why I Think The Party System Is A Bad Idea.

If the banks didn't have the funds from the Federal Reserve, the false housing boom wouldn't have occurred, making regulations redundant
What's with the ?
It was a rhetorical question. I'm saying that the "too big to fail" excuse is bull**** and that the banks SHOULD fail, as they would under a free-market.
What makes you think I need to remember? That's exactly what I'm saying. Corporations are taking advantage of the government, and they certainly aren't using it to create a free-market.

Again The Banks Had People In The Fed Looking Out For Their Interests And Gave Them Money Because They Would Get A Little Kick-Back. The Wink Was Because The Fed Called Politicians, Specifically Democrats, And Scared The **** Out Of Them. They Told Them They Would Lose Power And The Economy Would Collapse And A Giant Meteor Would Smack The Earth If They Didn't Pass It, So They Did. You Make A Man With Power Afraid He Will Do Anything To Save His ***, Even Dump His Principles.

TBTF Was A Bunch Of Bull. They Should Have Been Allowed To Fail In My Opinion Because They ****** Up. I Am In Favor Of Reducing Government Severely. Always Have Been But Regulation Is Needed To The Extent Of Ensuring That We Don't End Up With Nasty Drinking Water And Ground Up Rats In Our Food And Diseased Meat Again. Also Banking Regulation Should Be Reformed So That They Don't Steal People's Money And Charge Impossible Interest Rates On Those Are Unable To Pay Them Back, But As Far As Making Sure They Stay Afloat, Forget That.

There's no reason to believe that it would decrease the amount of corruption. If anything, it forces the few principled politicians (like a certain 12-term congressman) out of office, potentially replacing them with more ***holes.
The president has term limits, and they still get corporate backers for campaigns.

I Suppose You Have Me There. Corporations Could Currently Just Bankroll A Candidate's Campaign And Stay In The Dark While Legislation In Their Favor Gets Passed. We Can Thank Citizens United For That. In The Area That I Live In A Congressman Who Voted Mostly In Our Favor Was Kicked Out Because He Was A Democrat And Agreed With A Few Obama Policies, Needless To Say The GOP Had A Field Day. This Is Another Area That Needs A Great Amount Of Reform.

 

[VP-70]

I was going to put my heart and soul into this thread, but i have nor the time or patience for such an effort, and i don't believe anyone would be willing to sit and read it all, so all i'll say is.

We are nothing but hamsters on a wheel.

Some spin, some don't, some go faster than others, some go for little reward and others for much. Some wheels are plastic, others are metal...we even have gold wheels and wheels that light up when they move.

The cage is packed with many hamsters of many colors, back grounds and opinions. Most stay in the cage, but some are known to expand and travel further and wider in a hamster ball, but either in a cage, wheel or ball, its all confined and controlled to keep us from ourselves.

Compare a Wild Canadian Wolf, to the stupid domesticated mutts we call mans best friend and you will be struck with the sudden realization that domestication is detrimental to us as individuals.

We've grown dependent, we've become lazy, and we all long for the great adventure but don't want to take the risks or bare the weather.

Government makes me sick. How the worlds most beautiful,powerful and creative force on this planet got duped into surrendering their souls for the 9 to 5 dream that has done nothing but pitch brother against sister, son against father, daughter against mother, man against beast and nature her self is beyond me.

But ''we've become much more intelligent '' you say....have '' we '' Our ancestors trotted the globe with nothing the clothes on their backs, and built their own homes with their own hands.. most of us couldnt even spark our own fires and would die in our first night out in the wild.

'' But.. but... but, we're no longer in the dark age ''

Makes me wonder what is worse, the so called dark age, or the modern age.... for all our education, the bombs still drop, the guns still fire and the tanks still roar. Blood still spills and the bodies drop vastly more than it ever did in the '' dark age ''

Heaven used to be on this very earth...now it's been relegated to religious books as a place in the future.... nope, it should be an extinct place in the history books... for we ****ed it up royally.

I do not need government, and although i appreciate the toys, and gizmo's like ipods,ipads and iphones, i yearn for the day and wait for the hour where my fellow man gets an iclue.

would love to go on, but government can kiss my arse for all i care.

 

[KennedyKiller]

I was going to put my heart and soul into this thread, but i have nor the time or patience for such an effort, and i don't believe anyone would be willing to sit and read it all, so all i'll say is.

We are nothing but hamsters on a wheel.

Some spin, some don't, some go faster than others, some go for little reward and others for much. Some wheels are plastic, others are metal...we even have gold wheels and wheels that light up when they move.

The cage is packed with many hamsters of many colors, back grounds and opinions. Most stay in the cage, but some are known to expand and travel further and wider in a hamster ball, but either in a cage, wheel or ball, its all confined and controlled to keep us from ourselves.

Compare a Wild Canadian Wolf, to the stupid domesticated mutts we call mans best friend and you will be struck with the sudden realization that domestication is detrimental to us as individuals.

We've grown dependent, we've become lazy, and we all long for the great adventure but don't want to take the risks or bare the weather.

Government makes me sick. How the worlds most beautiful,powerful and creative force on this planet got duped into surrendering their souls for the 9 to 5 dream that has done nothing but pitch brother against sister, son against father, daughter against mother, man against beast and nature her self is beyond me.

But ''we've become much more intelligent '' you say....have '' we '' Our ancestors trotted the globe with nothing the clothes on their backs, and built their own homes with their own hands.. most of us couldnt even spark our own fires and would die in our first night out in the wild.

'' But.. but... but, we're no longer in the dark age ''

Makes me wonder what is worse, the so called dark age, or the modern age.... for all our education, the bombs still drop, the guns still fire and the tanks still roar. Blood still spills and the bodies drop vastly more than it ever did in the '' dark age ''

Heaven used to be on this very earth...now it's been relegated to religious books as a place in the future.... nope, it should be an extinct place in the history books... for we ****** it up royally.

I do not need government, and although i appreciate the toys, and gizmo's like ipods,ipads and iphones, i yearn for the day and wait for the hour where my fellow man gets an iclue.

would love to go on, but government can kiss my arse for all i care.

*Slow claps that turn into thunderous applause*

The issue with this though, is that you say YOU don't need government...That is true...YOU don't need it...Nor do I, nor does Femme, nor does Meg, Romero, Tyler, Steve, or any other member on this site...Not when it's just them as singular beings...However, as a society, we as humans are so flawed we NEED it...

It was best stated by Agent K in Men In Black when he says "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."

 

[VP-70]

*Slow claps that turn into thunderous applause*

The issue with this though, is that you say YOU don't need government...That is true...YOU don't need it...Nor do I, nor does Femme, nor does Meg, Romero, Tyler, Steve, or any other member on this site...Not when it's just them as singular beings...However, as a society, we as humans are so flawed we NEED it...

It was best stated by Agent K in Men In Black when he says "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."

This is the kind of self doubt that tricked us to give up our freedom and question our own capabilities, knowledge and instincts.

Things used to just be '' life '' and it forever continued in cycles, now, if you get called a name, have a bad hair day or find things a little too much, you sit on some assholes chair and tell him all about it, whilst he takes the keys to your mind out from your own pocket.

before society, men and women were strong, and able. We looked out into the world to find and understand our place, and upon witnessing the four seasons, and the movements of the animal kingdom, we sought to fit in to the cycle, and frowned upon things that were not in harmony with nature.

There is no difference between modern man and domesticated animals, its just that in our state of denial and cowardice, when referring to ourselves, we've opted for the word Civilization when infact we're domesticated, because our ego's simply won't allow us to face the truth.

 

[Meg]

This is the kind of self doubt that tricked us to give up our freedom and question our own capabilities, knowledge and instincts.

Things used to just be '' life '' and it forever continued in cycles, now, if you get called a name, have a bad hair day or find things a little too much, you sit on some assholes chair and tell him all about it, whilst he takes the keys to your mind out from your own pocket.

before society, men and women were strong, and able. We looked out into the world to find and understand our place, and upon witnessing the four seasons, and the movements of the animal kingdom, we sought to fit in to the cycle, and frowned upon things that were not in harmony with nature.

There is no difference between modern man and domesticated animals, its just that in our state of denial and cowardice, when referring to ourselves, we've opted for the word Civilization when infact we're domesticated, because our ego's simply won't allow us to face the truth.

I love how you seem to know exactly what life was like way back in the day. Tell me, were you around thousands of years ago? Please tell me how you know what people were thinking back then.

 

[VP-70]

I love how you seem to know exactly what life was like way back in the day. Tell me, were you around thousands of years ago? Please tell me how you know what people were thinking back then.

With sarcasm like that you'll be getting nothing.

oh how people change like the wind.

 

[Meg]

With sarcasm like that you'll be getting nothing.

oh how people change like the wind.

Ssh, I meant no offense.

 

[JMG29]

Alright, sorry for not replying sooner. I was busy.

I'm Not Brushing Them Off The The Side Because They Aren't Americans And I Know There Are Two Sides To Every War. One Side Says They Are Fighting For Patriotism And The Other Says They Are Fighting For The Glory Of God.

And then there's the side that doesn't care either way and just wants to go on with their lives.
The US government is bombing those people, supposedly to protect them from a dictator... that the US government supported.

Which All Of The Wars After World War 2 I Think Were Pointless.

World War I was pretty pointless too. It started because countries started forming "pacts" with other countries behind closed doors. When the Kaiser was assassinated, the European people were forced into a war that had nothing to do with their lives.

Foreign entanglements caused WWI, which DIRECTLY led to World War II, which is ironic since it's so often used as an example of "justified" military interventionism. And anyone who disagrees is labeled an "isolationist."

I Never Said I Was Happy About Libya, But The Man Was Slaughtering His People.

So were the Soviets. Stalin killed more people than Hitler ever dreamed of. The US never attacked them.

In fact, the reason FDR imposed an embargo on Japan was because they invaded Indochina. This led to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the US' involvement in WWII. The country basically got involved in response to Indochina.
What happened to Indochina when the war ended? Communist China took control. Woop-dee-****ing-doo.

But Was Not Happy We Were There In The First Place. We Have Our Own Problems Here.

These Things Also Caught My Attention As Well And Made Me Quite Mad. The NDAA I Know Gave Him The Right To Indefinitely Detain An Individual For "Security Purposes". Cispa Is Really Just SOPA Made Over With A Few Amendments. The Patriot Act Should Be Repealed. It's Trading More Rights For Security Which Is Stupid Because You Can't Make The World Completely Safe. People Are Always Going To Die And Bad Things Are Going To Happen, That's Life And Not Governments' Place To Make All The Bad Stuff Go Away Because Many Times They Make It Worse.

I agree.

I Do Have To Say That The Economy Is On The Rebound

I don't see how.
"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. After eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started and an enormous debt to boot!"
-Henry Morgenthau Jr., US Secretary of Treasury under FDR

Again The Banks Had People In The Fed Looking Out For Their Interests And Gave Them Money Because They Would Get A Little Kick-Back.

And?
If the banks use a government institution to get money (whether it was taxed, borrowed, or printed), is that the free-market's fault, or the government's fault?

The Wink Was Because The Fed Called Politicians, Specifically Democrats, And Scared The **** Out Of Them.

Winks normally imply that you're telling me something that I previously had no clue of.
I'm well aware of how corporations love to use the government to gain an advantage in the market. Again; is that the free-market's fault, or the government's fault?

TBTF Was A Bunch Of Bull. They Should Have Been Allowed To Fail In My Opinion Because They ****** Up.

We should also throw Greenspan and Bernanke in prison for mass theft.

I Am In Favor Of Reducing Government Severely. Always Have Been But Regulation Is Needed To The Extent Of Ensuring That We Don't End Up With Nasty Drinking Water And Ground Up Rats In Our Food And Diseased Meat Again.

You can get them off Amazon for $6.
You can get this for sinks too. They even made filtering straws. Notice how all of these things were created by private companies. As it turns out, businessmen don't want their customers to die, become sick from their products, or turn into zombies. That lowers the amount of customers they get, and gives them bad press, which in turn can result in losses and maybe even bankruptcy.

I know you didn't mention it directly but; "The Jungle" is only a book. It's fiction. People act like it's the Gospel when it comes to criticizing the market, just like how some people who are more in-line with my way of thinking treat Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" as the Gospel against statism.

Also Banking Regulation Should Be Reformed So That They Don't Steal People's Money And Charge Impossible Interest Rates On Those Are Unable To Pay Them Back

First people want the government to lower interest rates so that more people can buy houses. Now they want the government to regulate banks so that people who can't afford to buy a house can't...
...what?

We Can Thank Citizens United For That.

Stopping corporate donations is only fixing a symptom to a larger problem; Big Government. If the government has no power to give special favors or privileges to big corporations, then there's no reason for them to shop around for politicians.

Did you know that Wal-Mart actually lobbied to increase the minimum wage? Makes sense; they can afford it. Their smaller competitors can't.

Have not most of them given up already?

No they haven't.

And the moderators are not co-owners so they don't get a dime.

Fair enough.

 

[KennedyKiller]

This is the kind of self doubt that tricked us to give up our freedom and question our own capabilities, knowledge and instincts.

Things used to just be '' life '' and it forever continued in cycles, now, if you get called a name, have a bad hair day or find things a little too much, you sit on some assholes chair and tell him all about it, whilst he takes the keys to your mind out from your own pocket.

before society, men and women were strong, and able. We looked out into the world to find and understand our place, and upon witnessing the four seasons, and the movements of the animal kingdom, we sought to fit in to the cycle, and frowned upon things that were not in harmony with nature.

There is no difference between modern man and domesticated animals, its just that in our state of denial and cowardice, when referring to ourselves, we've opted for the word Civilization when infact we're domesticated, because our ego's simply won't allow us to face the truth.

Even back then human had some form of government in one way or another...And the tribes that hunted and gathered had an almost social class system that choose the leaders...Even animals do that with the alpha male roles and such...At the end of the day, humans are ALWAYS leading other humans...There never was a time of all humans be "Equal"...A lot of what you say is true, however, to say there was never government back then is majorly false my friend...