tomfoolery wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 2:25 am
For those on the camp of “we need more government” and “with more government, covid-1984 would have been gone already with fewer deaths”, I respectfully ask for a list of government programs that have been successful.
Imagine you were writing a resume for “government” to get the job for “entity whom governs” and you need to list past successes as bullet points.
Personally, I only count things as successes if:
They are on-time as promised.
They come in at or below budget.
There are no unfortunate side effects.
For example, if you worked as a software developer and wrote your resume, you wouldn’t include that time you finished a spectacular coding project in 18 months that was initially promised in 3 months and came in at 5x the budget and during the “go-live” of the software, one of the bugs caused the server farm to catch fire. You wouldn’t get the job.
But, I suspect if you excluded “successes” that took multiples of promised time, multiples of budget, and included significant unexpected undesired consequences, then your resume for the government will be blank, so feel free to include whatever you subjectively think is appropriate.
P.S. I would avoid including “would haves... if only” statements. For example, on a resume, you wouldn’t write, “would have saved the company $10M in spending by consolidating vendors if only my coworkers were competent and helped the project, but instead no cost savings were realized. Because of my idiot coworkers actively blocking me”
But, I’m not the government, and I won’t enforce your resume format, so do as you see fit with this task.
I respectfully request that pro-government people take the lead and this doesn’t turn into libertarians writing satirical bullet points about “landed on the moon with only 10x projected budget spend in triple the promised time” because that would be too obvious and I’m genuinely hoping to be convinced.
I don’t personally want zero government, because then warlord-esque governments pop up. I want smaller more local governments. So go ahead ladies and gents, apply for the job to control my life and plan society.
Have you spent much time traveling in other countries around the world?
I have, and some of my answers below are from the standpoint of using my travels in certain non-US countries as a point of comparison.
I don't think I can answer as to the budget part of the question. But in terms of program or project outcome, I can think of several examples of where the government has delivered effectively:
The highway and road system here is very good
Same might go for other public works like dams and bridges
Air traffic control and the air transportation system
Stable power grid, waterway and national/regional utility distribution
As much as the environment is an area of controversy, compared to many, our levels of pollution are low
Corruption, especially at low levels of government is comparatively low
Building and engineering standards are good. By way of example, in 2001 there was a massive earthquake I witnessed in Gujurat, India. This is a place where they do not have the building standards we have in the US. Basically anything goes, so buildings are built with watered down concrete, any and all shortcuts in the name of money savings are taken. When the earthquake hit, structures toppled like houses of cards.
I happen to think Medicare is a very well run program.
Similarly, public health standards are generally quite good, though the same might not be said about our US handling of Covid.
I think our national forests are great
The Federal and State court systems can have crowded dockets, but in general, they are available and move more quickly than many places.
National military defense
Trash management, cleanliness of streets and cities
Domestic law enforcement (not without its warts, but at least available and not as openly corrupt as some)
These are just a few examples. I don't know if I've understood your question properly, and if not, then disregard my answer. However if you travel through places that do not have the societal features like the ones above, their presence at home becomes more apparent and maybe more appreciated.
Don't get me wrong, I can find plenty of basis for criticism of all levels of US government, but I try to have a balanced view and recognize many of the things that government delivers or has delivered that contribute to quality of life.
