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Adjutant
 
Posts: 3646
Joined: 17 May 2013, 3:32 pm

Post 08 Mar 2020, 11:56 am

The government cannot remedy poverty by going in and giving money to poor people. What unions did was to make sure that workers got a decent share of the pie. What I favor now is just mandating things for larger companies and letting small companies operate in more of a free-for-all. The government is much bigger than it was 40 years ago ; government spends more; government has more regulations; but government is not doing anything (or at very least very little or not enough) to ensure that workers get an adequate share of the economic pie and with the demise of unions (and globalization) you thus get wealth stratification.

Wages have gone up and that's good; a long economic recovery and low employment combined with tax cuts has had a definite short-term effect on wages. But unless we're never going to have a recession again, I dont see that Trump's policies have changed wage growth for the long-term.

It's not like I am overly fond of having to deal with the government. I was a sole practitioner at one time and I thought the taxes I had to pay were ridiculous.And every time you deal with government it's like dealing with this huge inertial mass with no flexibility and adherence to rules. I dont want the government running the private sector--I just want it to rein in its excesses.
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Statesman
 
Posts: 11324
Joined: 15 Aug 2000, 8:59 am

Post 12 Mar 2020, 7:16 am

freeman3
Well, that's the crux of the matter, isnt it? This idea that government is the problem and if we just give people freedom with as little regulation as possible that they will create this economic prosperity
.

Right now, with the Corona Virus pandemic, it should be clear that good governance is essential. The only way to properly respond to issues like this is through government.

Now I understand your discussion is centered on the US, however if you lift your heads up and look at government in other nations, there are places where there is less poverty, where the poor are not as disadvantaged, and where the economic pie is shared more generously through the populace.
Most of these places put a premium on democracy and responsive government.
And most have political systems that offer more than two alternatives (parties) - and where the division of power is between more than two parties...
Perhaps the ongoing experience of Corona will reinvigorate people's understanding of effective government as a necessity, and cause Americans to consider changing things up? Starting with a change in November?
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Statesman
 
Posts: 11324
Joined: 15 Aug 2000, 8:59 am

Post 12 Mar 2020, 7:16 am

freeman3
Well, that's the crux of the matter, isnt it? This idea that government is the problem and if we just give people freedom with as little regulation as possible that they will create this economic prosperity
.

Right now, with the Corona Virus pandemic, it should be clear that good governance is essential. The only way to properly respond to issues like this is through government.

Now I understand your discussion is centered on the US, however if you lift your heads up and look at government in other nations, there are places where there is less poverty, where the poor are not as disadvantaged, and where the economic pie is shared more generously through the populace.
Most of these places put a premium on democracy and responsive government.
And most have political systems that offer more than two alternatives (parties) - and where the division of power is between more than two parties...
Perhaps the ongoing experience of Corona will reinvigorate people's understanding of effective government as a necessity, and cause Americans to consider changing things up? Starting with a change in November?