Fawn - I suggest that you read the 1950’s essay “I, Pencil” - which is a grade-school level (appropriate for you, perhaps) discussion of how something very very simple looking (a pencil) - requires a great deal of knowledge to fabricate. It also requires a FREE MARKET to work EFFICIENTLY!!
Yes, the government can have programs that work - but the smaller the program, the more likely it can be managed and yield useful results. The more complex - the more expensive and inefficient it becomes.
And if we went through your list of “government good” - item by item, we could identify many many areas where it isn’t the government - but private sector efforts. Most of the roads/infrastructure were built by private sector companies COMPETING in a free market. (And states and counties with their government road department - costs are often much higher and work is less efficient.)
Building codes, electrical codes - guess what - they are usually the result of private groups who come up with codes that the governments at various levels will adopt and reference. (The National Electric Code - NEC - wasn’t developed and updated by a government group, in spite of its name!!)
The FDA is a classic example where the FDA has become over-extended. The FDA imposes more and more regulations, more and more delays on the release of new drugs - including drugs that have already been approved in Europe or Asia. Some federal bureaucrat knows that if he approves a bad drug, he comes under scrutiny that he would like to avoid - but if he delays for years a good drug - at present, there are no consequences from withholding a beneficial drug from those that need it. There are lots of examples where existing miracle drugs in use today took extra (unnecessary) years to get approval because of some one who was afraid to make a decision!
The car you drove ...built by private enterprise. Wait til the government controls car companies (oops - they already do - at least 2 of the 3.) Most power generated in the US is the result of private companies building power plants. And even public utilities had private companies build the power plants that provide power!
Heck - I believe that the government CAN do some useful things - the military is one example of good results, and I would certainly not want to privatize the military. The government can be a tolerable solution for common good - like raising money through user fees and contracting out the building of projects with those fees. Gas taxes raise funds to allow road building, which everyone benefits from. A totally private sector solution might be difficult to implement.
But - having given a sense that your arguments were frivolous - lets consider how inefficient a large Postal System is (and the billions of dollars lost every year.) Lets consider that the Medicare and Medicatd systems are very inefficient, loose more than private insurance systems through Waste, Fraud and Abuse. The studies show that the government medical systems REFUSE payments at a higher rate that private insurances!! We will have a much larger system (more government employees) - higher administrative costs, and more burden on the doctors and hospitals - meaning less money for treatment and more money lost in the process!!
Bottom line - do you want more/bigger government? Do you think that medical innovation will benefit by making everyone kow-tow to more levels of oversight (think of the FDA times 100)? Costs will go up, and quality will go down.
Go back to the beginning. Read the essay “I, Pencil” - and consider how individual responsibility and private free market forces can result in higher quality, more innovation and better results. Even now, proof of this can be seen in areas like Lasik Eye Surgery - something usually not covered by any medical insurance plans (government or private) - yet higher quality systems continue to be developed that offer better results, while bringing costs down lower, year after year. That will be lost when the Feds control ALL medical procedures.
“which is a grade-school level (appropriate for you, perhaps)”
Wow, quick to jump on someone without reading ALL of what they said....Fawn simply pasted something from SOMEONE ELSE’S facebook page and was giving us a heads up as to what was “going around”....
Perhaps you are the one that needs to return to grade school learn the concept of READING!
Sorry, but I can’t stand when freepers are so quick to jump on other freepers without bothering to get the whole story....
Since you don’t comprehend posts, I’m not reading past your first unbelievably ignorant first sentence.
Bump