this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2023
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That’s interesting. I kinda did the opposite. Was raised in a fairly liberal house and went to college.
But as I got older and gained experience have drifted more towards some almagamation of a libertarian mindset. Libertarians suffer severely from a “no true Scott’s man “ thing. So i politically don’t really have a home and it depends on a candidate. And if you ask many they may write me off as an opponent or undesirable based on a single policy stance.
Overall I feel the government means well but often doesn’t DO well or implement well as thus I am more hesistant for social programs as I get older. Like I’m not one of those taxes are theft people but just that government should keep to very specific and targeted programs and not try and be a regulation solution for everything. Only regulate when it’s clear a market can’t do so itself and negatively affects the people, like in banking.
But when it gets huge and unwieldy things go south quick. Like healthcare for all would be awesome, but then you look at how Medicare is ran or the VA and I get big time squirrly feelings.
Similarly with things like gun control. The theres no legislation that will solve the cultural issues that lead to all types of gun deaths. And what legislation is out there, even at the state level is often totally based on false premises and thus doesn’t solve the issues they intend to.
So just like I feel abortion is a deeply personal choice and if someone is self aware enough to know they won’t be a good parent they should make that call, especially if the alternative is the government having to raise kids (cause foster care is a mess). I feel similarly about gun control.
In most things I probs lean left on the American spectrum. But honestly there are few in our current political system that I can point to an be like “them, I really like them!”
Yeah, I can see how you might arrive at some of those things. I think in general a lot of people want mostly the same things, but by looking at a problem from a slightly different angle, you can arrive at largely different conclusions. Just as one of the things you stated, you think the government often doesn't do a good job at the things it does. I can agree with that to a certain extent. However, I don't believe that it is just intrinsically because the government is crappy at doing their job. I constantly see opponents fighting against these very institutions, trying to defund them, trying to make them ineffective. So yeah, its kind of hard for stuff to be done properly when certain people are trying to dismantle you every step of the way. But to that point, maybe the very fact that this is possible is proof that the American government doesn't work well? I'd still think a functioning government is something worth working towards though.
This is why its incredibly important to listen to opposing viewpoints and respect those that dont agree with you, and welcome discussion. Not isolate those or push them away. I see it even happening here already on this platform over at kbin and shitjustworks. Its not a good approach imho.
I agree with that to an extent. But even when all parties band together to pass something, it often just goes haywire. Look at the PPP stuff and the early refunds for citizens. There was no real plan, it was rushed (for a lot of reasons, many very valid), there was LOADS of grift and even when there wasnt, it wasnt targeted. Some states werent good arbiters of the program either. Everyone got early refunds whether their income was impacted or not and the federal government had to kinda go that route because some state programs were a mess. Which put us in a corner with inflation now. It came from a good place, just the delivery was mangled.
To your point, i dont think it comes from a bad place. But the reason we need government is because the world has malicious actors and those on the take and the government is supposed to limit the damage those actors can do. That occurs from the individual level up to the company.
Government is supposed to limit the damage there. But if the government gets too big, it becomes a target itself for those malicious actors and can be abused in its own right. And thats been clear throughout history, and its not necessarily a problem for a specific type of government, though some are more prone to it than others imho.