Amalgamation

[danbrotherston]

Great, so you don't get to use the public roads, you don't get healthcare--even private healthcare which is largely the product of government research grants, you don't even get to interact with anyone else in the society because we are all educated as a result of broad public education.

You can go live alone in the woods...except you cannot even do that without depending on society.

Reaganism is a denial of the reality that we are social creatures living in a communal society. You cannot live without depending on other people, this is an inherent human feature.

You can argue about the scale or distribution of power within a society but you cannot argue against it's existence, which is exactly what Reagan style conservatives pretend to do.

10/10 for taking what I said and completely twisting it around to suit your narrative

I did not say we do not need government - we need government to be as small as possible and as efficient as possible, you always have to remember that it is accountable to the people, and it certainly is none of those things right now

Do you honestly think the government has your best interest at heart?

Of course we are social creatures living in a communal society but how we depend on other people varies on what you mean - yes, I depend and expect city employees to do their job (via taxpayer funds) to maintain the roads just as much as I depend and expect the doctor to treat my injuries in a timely manner

I certainly don't need the government to tell me how to act, speak, think (obviously within the confines of the law) which it is increasingly eager to do

I didn't take anything you said out of context...you quoted and indicated support for a political ideology. I simply pointed out the reality of that political ideology. If you prefer a different ideology, you should say that instead.

As for the government, they absolutely have my interests at heart...that isn't to say that my interests aren't competing with many MANY other interests, some of which, I feel are prioritized far too much.

But I can also tell you that neither the "magic invisible hand" nor corporate shareholders have your interests in mind at all.

And I'm happy to discuss what a government should do, but this strategy of demonizing the government because you believe they don't care about your interests, is a strategy used by those who actually have the freedom not to care about your interests (i.e., corporate shareholders), to convince people to oppose democratic processes in favour of corporate control.

I don't want the government to dictate what I can say, but at least I get a vote in that government, I get no vote on Facebook's board, and they exercise far more control over my speech than the government does, and do so as a direct result of their lobbying and policies enacted in the name of "small government".