Don't know if this will go anywhere constructive (but it's Hyde Park, so it's probably silly of me to expect it could).
A lot of what we debate comes down to "The government should/should not do X". As a fairly conservative American, I tend to believe that we are better off when local governments, informed by democratic processes, provide most of the day to day services that governments provide--things like libraries and firefighting and police protection, that do not tend to work well as private enterprises. The federal government's role should be modest and limited, in my view, to issues between the states and international issues (such as running the military, for example). While some regulation is needed for various businesses, it should be minimal and only where required for safe/humane practices--beyond that, businesses should be free to compete, which will encourage both growth and innovation.
I'm quite sure that the further the government is from the people it is governing, the less relevant its laws are likely to be to each of the people it affects. When the government tries to give away endless services, it sucks money out of the economy and is wasteful with it, leading to endless debt and deficits, a lack of responsibility at all levels, and eventual decadence and disaster.
Where do you fall on the line of how much government is a good thing?
A lot of what we debate comes down to "The government should/should not do X". As a fairly conservative American, I tend to believe that we are better off when local governments, informed by democratic processes, provide most of the day to day services that governments provide--things like libraries and firefighting and police protection, that do not tend to work well as private enterprises. The federal government's role should be modest and limited, in my view, to issues between the states and international issues (such as running the military, for example). While some regulation is needed for various businesses, it should be minimal and only where required for safe/humane practices--beyond that, businesses should be free to compete, which will encourage both growth and innovation.
I'm quite sure that the further the government is from the people it is governing, the less relevant its laws are likely to be to each of the people it affects. When the government tries to give away endless services, it sucks money out of the economy and is wasteful with it, leading to endless debt and deficits, a lack of responsibility at all levels, and eventual decadence and disaster.
Where do you fall on the line of how much government is a good thing?
