Socialists would like it if every country was socialist. Free marketeers would like it if every country was a free market.
The liberals' argument is basically 'Science', i.e. scientists will eventually discover that the best form of government is a bureaucratically managed democracy with a quasi-capitalist economy that is heavily taxed and regulated.
Any country that tried anything else would just be stupid and unscientific.
Free marketeers are utopians. They believe that the majority of people can be encouraged, cajoled, or shamed into wanting to live in a world requiring them to be responsible for their actions and get rewarded accordingly.
Also Free Marketeers, libertarians, and conservatives are among the key hurdles to decentralization. Decentralization will only occur if regional and local governments are willing to cut themselves off from federal funding. This would require a long period that might require raising local taxes and fees which most of us on the right would oppose.
So we're stuck sucking from the federal teat and radical decentralization will only occur if and when the central governments collapse from debt that even they can't absorb or paper over.
Interesting.
I’d like to see a Flow Chart of how our Federal Tax Dollars move through the system.
From what I understand, The Federal Government is basically a “Pass Through” entity. Albeit one that comes with a cost and an increasing number of rules.
The Feds force rules on the states and then tell the states that they will withhold monies if they don’t comply.
Rarely do the Feds pay people directly.
Virtually all of these programs are administered by each State but under rules that are set by the Federal Bureaucracy.
Remember when some States objected to the Government imposing a National speed limit of 55 MPH? Those States were threatened with the withholding of “Highway Funds”.
Some talk about “UnFunded Mandates”, but it’s the FUNDED MANDATES that are killing our Country.