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Then the people, in general, need to stop listening to the echoed words of Grover Norquist ("government so small you can drown it in a bathtub") and recognize t

Then the people, in general, need to stop listening to the echoed words of Grover Norquist ("government so small you can drown it in a bathtub") and recognize that taxes are the price we pay for living in a civilized society. After all, where else can public sector wages come from? It also needs to be said that this is a common and despicable tactic of the right wing: first, vote consistently against any support for the public sector; then, claim that the public sector is fundamentally incapable of doing a good job (and should thus be deprioritized further), rather than it having been deliberately starved of funding and public support over the course of decades. We have the public sector we vote for and are willing to pay for: no more, no less.

azinman2 4y ago
Also don’t forget, use anytime gov is ineffective but your enemy party is in power as evidence that they can’t do their job. When you’re in power, still blame them when things don’t work.
Gunax 4y ago
Well since we are getting political, how about the left-wing tactic of always needing more money. Just a little bit more and everything would be better. I am being a bit pithy, but I think these sort of opinions are based in ideology, and not experience. If you are untrustful, you will always be skeptical of government, and too trustful, will always accept that more money is the answer.
- danaris 4y ago
  > Well since we are getting political, how about the left-wing tactic of always needing more money. And if government had ever been funded to the point that the left wing actually wants (note: not "to the point that politics actually allows in compromise budgets, either with the Republicans or with the fiscally conservative parts of the Democrats"), over the past few hundred years, and it had still failed to solve the problems that are trying to be solved with more money, you might be able to derive a valid criticism out of this.
Ericson2314 4y ago
Money isn't zero-sum, even during inflation. But the broader point that we need a big active public sector that isn't cowering and underfunded to be a modern society is true. Galbraith's get it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Affluent_Society https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Affluent_Society

azinman2 4y ago

Also don’t forget, use anytime gov is ineffective but your enemy party is in power as evidence that they can’t do their job. When you’re in power, still blame them when things don’t work.

Gunax 4y ago

Well since we are getting political, how about the left-wing tactic of always needing more money. Just a little bit more and everything would be better. I am being a bit pithy, but I think these sort of opinions are based in ideology, and not experience. If you are untrustful, you will always be skeptical of government, and too trustful, will always accept that more money is the answer.

danaris 4y ago
> Well since we are getting political, how about the left-wing tactic of always needing more money. And if government had ever been funded to the point that the left wing actually wants (note: not "to the point that politics actually allows in compromise budgets, either with the Republicans or with the fiscally conservative parts of the Democrats"), over the past few hundred years, and it had still failed to solve the problems that are trying to be solved with more money, you might be able to derive a valid criticism out of this.

Ericson2314 4y ago

Money isn't zero-sum, even during inflation. But the broader point that we need a big active public sector that isn't cowering and underfunded to be a modern society is true. Galbraith's get it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Affluent_Society https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Affluent_Society