4 ms·

I didnt say he said those things explicitly. But by saying it's patriotic, he's assuming those things. Yes, it's based on my opinion. Yes, I'm generalizing, an

• SigmundA 15y ago
  Probably why we need government eh? Have you ever set your clock ahead 10 minutes to help keep you from being late? Why, you could just be responsible instead? This is the premise of a democratic government, when you realize that you will not always do the best thing for yourself or your neighbors, but you still know what the best thing is and have a government that enforces it, knowing it could come for you if you break the contract. Obviously it is not a perfect system and we must be vigilant to improve it constantly, but anarchy is not a viable option. In many cases government does spend more wisely than any single individual, but that may not be the cheapest approach, there is a difference. Look up the "Price of anarchy".
  • jwallaceparker 15y ago
    Can you give some examples of the "many cases" in which a government spends more wisely than an individual?
    • jessedhillon 15y ago
      Rather than me hiring security for my house at a rate of maybe one hour a day -- the only amount of private security I could afford -- the government pools the money of my entire community, hires many security guards, equips them, and lets them drive around my neighborhood. Then, instead of my spending an hour or two educating all the kids in the neighborhood, in the hope that the next generation of people aren't morons, they take some money from all property owners and use it to build schools. Those schools to ensure that a very wide swath of the population, even the poor and stupid, meet minimum education standards. That way, at the very least they can go and do the service jobs that I don't want to do, and so many of them meet that minimum education level that they can be hired for a low wage, thus keeping the price I pay low.
      • SigmundA 15y ago
        Thanks, this would have been my response for the most part. National Defense, Police, Fire, Education, Roads, Water Systems, Sewer Systems, and Healthcare(just a form of nation defense IMO). These are all very expensive endeavors that simply don't work that well if the individuals "shops around".
      • jwallaceparker 15y ago
        The government spends wastefully in defense, education and every other service it seeks to provide. I agree in principle that it's generally beneficial for individuals to pool resources in order to address common needs. But this happens on its own in a marketplace. It's called the division of labor.
        • jessedhillon 15y ago
          Wastefully compared to what? Do you know of any other organization that provides essential social services to hundreds of millions of people? Do you have actual facts to supply here? Can you provide an a legitimate comparison for us, or are we supposed to simply accept your free market mantra? The existence of waste and inefficient behaviors does not mean that the system is wasteful.
          • icebraining 15y ago
            Why must there be a single organization that provides services to hundreds of millions? Why can't there be thousands of orgs that provide service only to a few hundred people? The food industry is a good example. Unless you don't consider food essential.
            • jessedhillon 15y ago
              Is that really a good example? The public subsidizes agriculture in the US and other industrialized nations precisely because it is essential to the public good. Without subsidy, food would be as expensive at Safeway as it is at your local farmer's market -- which varies drastically by location. In Sacramento, fresh fruit is <$1/lb; in SF it can be triple that, or more. Maybe that's not a bad idea to have people pay what food really costs, but it's not a free market success story in any way.
  • Hisoka 15y ago
    I know the price of anarchy. We don't have such a thing in this world. So no sense in learning the "price". We COULD learn a thing or 2 by looking at the PROS though.