Why I’m Not A Progressive
All in all, I agree with Leonard Pitts about the Alabama sex toys lawsuit, but Ronald Reagan was flat wrong about government. The Great Communicator said:
Government is not the solution to the problem. Government is the problem.
The government has no business in our bedrooms or our doctors offices and banning the sale of sex toys in this state is just plain silly, but there is a need for government. Competent government.
My dictionary defines government as “the act or manner of controlling or regulating a nation, organization, or people.” The people in Iraq have essentially no government and how many of us envy them? What happened (and is still happening) to New Orleans after Katrina hit was a colossal failure of government. There would be no public roads, public schools, food or water safety standards or law enforcement without government.
In America today, government is not the problem, incompetent government is the problem. Electing new leaders is the solution.
No doubt incompetent government is a problem. But electing new leaders won’t solve anything. New leaders will just specialize in different areas of incompetence. Unless, of course, the new leaders want to strictly limit what the government can do. Less discretion for the leaders means less harm from the incompetence.
Explore posts in the same categories: National Politics
The Alablawg 
May 21, 2007 at 11:22 am
You are so not progressive that you’re downright pessimistic! Sure, new leaders will have (or develop) different incompetencies or corruptions. Pay attention, criticize them and vote them out. An informed and engaged electorate is the best protection against incompetence or abuse of power by elected officials.
My gripe with that Reagan quote is that it trivializes the role of government, which has been a force for good in America. Some examples: Rural electrification, flood control, interstate highways, food and drinking water standards, Social Security, the internet. People used to die in America because their drinking water was contaminated. I don’t want “government small enough to drown in a bathtub,” but I do want efficient, competent government. We don’t get that unless someone is doggin’ them all the time. Lately, much of the media had abdicated that responsibility, so regular citizens have to keep an eye on government as best we can.
May 21, 2007 at 12:01 pm
i don’t like the reagan quote either, but mostly because from him and his idolizers what it really means is “government [that protects women, minorities, and the environment] is the problem [but not government that regulates people’s private sexual lives or destroys the fourth amendment or endorses particular religious creeds].
May 21, 2007 at 1:56 pm
here in Florida , we put in term limits, mandating ” new leaders” ….greatly increasing the power of lobbyists, and forcing some competent people out of office.I guess merely having the power to vote out those you don’t want anymore wasn’t enough…
May 21, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Unfortunately in America we get what we vote for…usually less. Ronald Reagan ran on a balanced budget.. A complete lie. He completely ruined the budget setting a precedent that little george junior followed. Now a very significant portion of every tax dollar goes to paying interest on the national debt. American tax dollars going to Japan and China to finance their retirements at a time when we are being told that SS is broke. A responsible leader could have the US governement debt free and able to deal with future cahllenges. But corrupt government leaders have wasted the SS surplus of the last 30 years or so and ran up other debts. There is absolutely no excuse for the US government borrowing money. I’m afraid to look now but the last time I looked we were paying $400,000,000,000/year on interest on the national debt. That seems wastefull to take that much money from tax payers and give NO benefits.
May 21, 2007 at 5:40 pm
wheeler, great minds apparently think alike.
May 21, 2007 at 10:05 pm
I disdain most political monikers, particularly “progressive.” Most “progressive” policies tend to “progress” the role of government in the lives of private citizens, usually in the form of costly social programs that hit me in my wallet.
May 22, 2007 at 9:55 am
[…] I quipped about why I’m not a progressive. The Republican reaction to Paul – typified by Eric Dondero – is a great illustration of why I am […]