4 ms·

> which will just mismanage the money and use it to line its own pockets. This is a profoundly American viewpoint. If you assume everyone mismanages funds, you

> which will just mismanage the money and use it to line its own pockets. This is a profoundly American viewpoint. If you assume everyone mismanages funds, you don't give them enough funds to really deliver value on, so they look mismanaged. The rest of the world has relatively well functioning governments despite having quite a bit more responsibility

F2468 11y ago
> If you assume everyone mismanages funds, you don't give them enough funds to really deliver value on, so they look mismanaged. What? >The rest of the world has relatively well functioning governments despite having quite a bit more responsibility. Define well-functioning. By my definition, they are absolutely not.
- BrainInAJar 11y ago
  Let me explain it to you in a simpler way. If you have a house, and your siding is rotting off, you ask everyone in the house to pitch in to fix the siding so the foundation doesn't start to get destroyed. But everyone in the house is a child that holds childish simplistic libertarian ideals and refuses to give you anything more than the bare minimum, so you side it with tarps instead of shingles, eventually the structure starts rotting.
  - F2468 11y ago
    Pitching in implies that it is voluntary. Government funding by taxation is not. Calling something childish is not an argument. Being underfunded is no excuse, they could be efficient and get the most out of the money they take (by force, don't forget my friend). If they were, then you can argue we should fund them further. I'm still eagerly awaiting your definition of well-functioning and an explanation for how the "rest of the world" fall under that definition.
AndrewUnmuted 11y ago
Well, yes, we are talking about _American_ taxes on cigarettes - are we not? > If you assume everyone mismanages funds, you don't give them enough funds to really deliver value on Why on Earth would you assume that? I don't give anybody tax money. Considering how much god damned money my country spends murdering innocent civilians in the MENA region, I'd say you're looking at it backwards. > The rest of the world has relatively well functioning governments I've passed through nearly four dozen embassies in my day, and never have I met a "well-functioning" government throughout that broad experience. I think you're full of shit, and are just recycling old "isms" that don't apply to the modern world.

F2468 11y ago

> If you assume everyone mismanages funds, you don't give them enough funds to really deliver value on, so they look mismanaged. What? >The rest of the world has relatively well functioning governments despite having quite a bit more responsibility. Define well-functioning. By my definition, they are absolutely not.

BrainInAJar 11y ago
Let me explain it to you in a simpler way. If you have a house, and your siding is rotting off, you ask everyone in the house to pitch in to fix the siding so the foundation doesn't start to get destroyed. But everyone in the house is a child that holds childish simplistic libertarian ideals and refuses to give you anything more than the bare minimum, so you side it with tarps instead of shingles, eventually the structure starts rotting.
- F2468 11y ago
  Pitching in implies that it is voluntary. Government funding by taxation is not. Calling something childish is not an argument. Being underfunded is no excuse, they could be efficient and get the most out of the money they take (by force, don't forget my friend). If they were, then you can argue we should fund them further. I'm still eagerly awaiting your definition of well-functioning and an explanation for how the "rest of the world" fall under that definition.

AndrewUnmuted 11y ago

Well, yes, we are talking about _American_ taxes on cigarettes - are we not? > If you assume everyone mismanages funds, you don't give them enough funds to really deliver value on Why on Earth would you assume that? I don't give anybody tax money. Considering how much god damned money my country spends murdering innocent civilians in the MENA region, I'd say you're looking at it backwards. > The rest of the world has relatively well functioning governments I've passed through nearly four dozen embassies in my day, and never have I met a "well-functioning" government throughout that broad experience. I think you're full of shit, and are just recycling old "isms" that don't apply to the modern world.