7 ms·

I wish I could go back in time about 40 years, where I had the same faith in government that you have currently. (I'm age 43 at the moment)

mtoner23 4y ago
No you dont, you obviously like not trusting the government. it makes you feel smarter and better than a big organization. But your internet research isnt as good as 1000 econ grads working at the BLS and it will never be.
Firmwarrior 4y ago
The government is definitely full of shit, but historical inflation matches their published numbers pretty well over time. I compared the Big Mac index over the last couple decades, and it fit pretty well I think most of the extra inflation is going into stocks and housing, and the government's cherry picking hides those factors. The end result is that people can't retire and can't comfortably afford houses, which is why everything sucks now
flyingcircus3 4y ago
[flagged]
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  You're forgetting all the steps about purposely cutting, gutting, kneecapping, etc important government functions when voted in and then pointing around while saying "look how bad government is at doing things!"
  - gnulinux 4y ago
    This is the standard conservative playbook, it even has a name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago
  > The end result is just a bunch of curmudgeons who hate the government Unless it's army, police, prisons, and drug prosecutions. You know the arms of the government that are actually danegrous and kill people. Like at least can you be consistent.
- ThunderSizzle 4y ago
  > Equate others' continued faith in said government with naivety To be fair, most people's trust/reliance in the Federal government is based out of naivity or lack of knowledge. Considering most news today is just regurgitating government press conference talking points, it's not surprising most people's knowledge stops at naivity.
  - dd36 4y ago
    Most news? Government press conferences? What?
    - ThunderSizzle 4y ago
      Yes, most news on many topics like inflation reports, job numbers, etc. is just news reporters restating exactly what the government official says. This was very apparent under Covid when news agencies just repeated what was said with their own bias spin thrown on it. Most attempts at independent journalism that started with skepticsm was instantly lambasted as fake news or misinformation.
      - dd36 4y ago
        Most news does not come from the government. The problem is there legitimately was fake news and misinformation during Covid. Government at least tries to get it right while acting cautious. To expect the government to wait until it’s certain about something when it could instead save hundreds of thousands to millions of lives by being proactive is the radical position.
  - p0pcult 4y ago
    To be faaaaaairrrr...
    - ThunderSizzle 4y ago
      Whoosh.
- tomcam 4y ago
  Which commenter identified as conservative? Or are you mind reading?
  - gnulinux 4y ago
    These kind of comments are the strangest imho. Do we really need an official declaration to deduce someone who says something as clear as "[I don't have] faith in government that you have currently."? Even if they then claim to be something else -- or even against conservatism -- they still are using the exact same rhetoric GP points out that American conservatives use to unjustly cast doubt on government. It's not helpful to seek out explicit information like this. "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck."
    - ravenstine 4y ago
      This is exactly how I end up being labeled a conservative, besides the fact that I like to shoot guns. I don't have faith in government. Government is merely a necessary part of the equation. In the eyes of some, this makes me a conservative. Conserving what? I think taxes are necessary, that social programs can do good (including forms of welfare), that no one should be discriminated against, and that the God of the Bible does not exist. Somehow that's not enough because I don't subscribe to the theology of government. Seriously, I don't know why you think lacking faith in government is a good metric for guessing whether someone is a conservative, as if it even matters for such a comment. Do you assume someone is Black because they say they like basketball?
      - nerdponx 4y ago
        > Seriously, I don't know why you think lacking faith in government is a good metric for guessing whether someone is a conservative, as if it even matters for such a comment. Do you assume someone is Black because they say they like basketball? It's a dogwhistle.
      - dd36 4y ago
        I think it’s because you pick government. I don’t have faith in any large organization public or private not being corrupted. So if you merely don’t have faith in government, it implies you do have faith in non-government entities.
- steve76 4y ago
  [dead]
- NDizzle 4y ago
  The context of this one is inflation, and the tracking of it. The statement is that there is an army of government analysts working on it, to get it right. The reality that I subscribe too (see what I did there?) contains the fact that the government continuously changes the metric from which inflation is measured. And how unemployment is measured. And how much money is in circulation. Until those numbers (and plenty of others) look better than the previous set of numbers.
- ravenstine 4y ago
  So don't take this as me picking sides, but... ... that feedback loop describes plenty of "liberals", or rather left-wingers, whatever that actually means. The only way I could see someone thinking this is an exclusively conservative phenomenon is if they've never met any far leftists, or if they are far leftists themselves and believe they are more moderate than they are. Were movements like Occupy Wallstreet, Black Power, The Weather Underground, et al. actually cheering on the establishment and promoting conservative values? While I think you have identified something real, it seems you're implying some form of intent on a large scale. I don't think the vast majority of disaffected conservatives are preaching faithlessness in an act of pretentiousness; they may actually have reasons to have little faith in government that are being dismissed, and aren't simply trying to corrode society for some ulterior motive like creating an ethnostate or whatever. Just saying your view comes off as a caricature, to say the least.
- the_optimist 4y ago
  Once again discussing this: this is a non-falsifiable conspiracy theory. There is no outside measure of success of government programs, and no path to failure. There is also little-to-no constraint on resource consumption, so government is the ultimate paperclip-maximizer. Anyway, it’s nice that you’ve invested so much in theorizing and hypothesizing about something you very clearly do not relate to, but it is deeply disconnected from practical reality of resources in an economy.
- pessimizer 4y ago
  Yes, non-conservatives, famous for their faith in government for the past 2 years.
- kortilla 4y ago
  You just described the liberal feedback loop when there is a Republican President or congress majority.

mtoner23 4y ago

No you dont, you obviously like not trusting the government. it makes you feel smarter and better than a big organization. But your internet research isnt as good as 1000 econ grads working at the BLS and it will never be.

Firmwarrior 4y ago

The government is definitely full of shit, but historical inflation matches their published numbers pretty well over time. I compared the Big Mac index over the last couple decades, and it fit pretty well I think most of the extra inflation is going into stocks and housing, and the government's cherry picking hides those factors. The end result is that people can't retire and can't comfortably afford houses, which is why everything sucks now

flyingcircus3 4y ago

[flagged]

mrguyorama 4y ago
You're forgetting all the steps about purposely cutting, gutting, kneecapping, etc important government functions when voted in and then pointing around while saying "look how bad government is at doing things!"
- gnulinux 4y ago
  This is the standard conservative playbook, it even has a name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast
ClumsyPilot 4y ago
> The end result is just a bunch of curmudgeons who hate the government Unless it's army, police, prisons, and drug prosecutions. You know the arms of the government that are actually danegrous and kill people. Like at least can you be consistent.
ThunderSizzle 4y ago
> Equate others' continued faith in said government with naivety To be fair, most people's trust/reliance in the Federal government is based out of naivity or lack of knowledge. Considering most news today is just regurgitating government press conference talking points, it's not surprising most people's knowledge stops at naivity.
- dd36 4y ago
  Most news? Government press conferences? What?
  - ThunderSizzle 4y ago
    Yes, most news on many topics like inflation reports, job numbers, etc. is just news reporters restating exactly what the government official says. This was very apparent under Covid when news agencies just repeated what was said with their own bias spin thrown on it. Most attempts at independent journalism that started with skepticsm was instantly lambasted as fake news or misinformation.
    - dd36 4y ago
      Most news does not come from the government. The problem is there legitimately was fake news and misinformation during Covid. Government at least tries to get it right while acting cautious. To expect the government to wait until it’s certain about something when it could instead save hundreds of thousands to millions of lives by being proactive is the radical position.
- p0pcult 4y ago
  To be faaaaaairrrr...
  - ThunderSizzle 4y ago
    Whoosh.
tomcam 4y ago
Which commenter identified as conservative? Or are you mind reading?
- gnulinux 4y ago
  These kind of comments are the strangest imho. Do we really need an official declaration to deduce someone who says something as clear as "[I don't have] faith in government that you have currently."? Even if they then claim to be something else -- or even against conservatism -- they still are using the exact same rhetoric GP points out that American conservatives use to unjustly cast doubt on government. It's not helpful to seek out explicit information like this. "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck."
  - ravenstine 4y ago
    This is exactly how I end up being labeled a conservative, besides the fact that I like to shoot guns. I don't have faith in government. Government is merely a necessary part of the equation. In the eyes of some, this makes me a conservative. Conserving what? I think taxes are necessary, that social programs can do good (including forms of welfare), that no one should be discriminated against, and that the God of the Bible does not exist. Somehow that's not enough because I don't subscribe to the theology of government. Seriously, I don't know why you think lacking faith in government is a good metric for guessing whether someone is a conservative, as if it even matters for such a comment. Do you assume someone is Black because they say they like basketball?
    - nerdponx 4y ago
      > Seriously, I don't know why you think lacking faith in government is a good metric for guessing whether someone is a conservative, as if it even matters for such a comment. Do you assume someone is Black because they say they like basketball? It's a dogwhistle.
    - dd36 4y ago
      I think it’s because you pick government. I don’t have faith in any large organization public or private not being corrupted. So if you merely don’t have faith in government, it implies you do have faith in non-government entities.
steve76 4y ago
[dead]
NDizzle 4y ago
The context of this one is inflation, and the tracking of it. The statement is that there is an army of government analysts working on it, to get it right. The reality that I subscribe too (see what I did there?) contains the fact that the government continuously changes the metric from which inflation is measured. And how unemployment is measured. And how much money is in circulation. Until those numbers (and plenty of others) look better than the previous set of numbers.
ravenstine 4y ago
So don't take this as me picking sides, but... ... that feedback loop describes plenty of "liberals", or rather left-wingers, whatever that actually means. The only way I could see someone thinking this is an exclusively conservative phenomenon is if they've never met any far leftists, or if they are far leftists themselves and believe they are more moderate than they are. Were movements like Occupy Wallstreet, Black Power, The Weather Underground, et al. actually cheering on the establishment and promoting conservative values? While I think you have identified something real, it seems you're implying some form of intent on a large scale. I don't think the vast majority of disaffected conservatives are preaching faithlessness in an act of pretentiousness; they may actually have reasons to have little faith in government that are being dismissed, and aren't simply trying to corrode society for some ulterior motive like creating an ethnostate or whatever. Just saying your view comes off as a caricature, to say the least.
the_optimist 4y ago
Once again discussing this: this is a non-falsifiable conspiracy theory. There is no outside measure of success of government programs, and no path to failure. There is also little-to-no constraint on resource consumption, so government is the ultimate paperclip-maximizer. Anyway, it’s nice that you’ve invested so much in theorizing and hypothesizing about something you very clearly do not relate to, but it is deeply disconnected from practical reality of resources in an economy.
pessimizer 4y ago
Yes, non-conservatives, famous for their faith in government for the past 2 years.
kortilla 4y ago
You just described the liberal feedback loop when there is a Republican President or congress majority.