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James Turner

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Smaller Government in all countries around the world

Is there a way we can rationally and gradually shrink all governments in countries all over the world and reduce them to providing protection on national level and let the local take care of their own problems and seek help from other local governments?

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    Bill Grimmette

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    Feb 18 2013: The premise of the question disturbs me. It assumes that there is some optimal size a government should be to mediate the competition for power that is natural in all of us. Government is the agreement we make to control our natural urges for the sake of civilized social intercourse. In the United States, where I am from, it was the savagery of the slave powers that constantly clamored for small government. When government gets in the way of our barbaric or savage tendencies, we instantly want it to shrink; but when nature savages us as it did with Hurricane Katrina or wildfire infernos in Texas or the Tsunami that devastated Japan, we tend to grade government by a different metric. They have a very small government in Somalia and Afghanistan and how is that working for them? Small government advocates rarely ask how the power void would be filled as government shrinks. But those of us who are not members of the power elite know the answer to that question. Someone said that the US constitution was designed purposely to limit the scope of the Federal Government. But that is odd, since the Constitution was "ordained and established" to replace the Articles of Confederation where the states maintained their complete sovereignty. This limited government mantra is a farce. Government should be big enough to ensure each citizen has EQUAL protection under the law. When government can guarantee that, then we can entertain a question about its size. Until then, it is only a beast or a monster to those warlords who want to carve out their own little multi-billion dollar fiefdoms and rule in perpetuity over a serfdom with no control over their destiny. Here is an exercise, see if you can go anywhere and see anything that was not made better by government regulation. ANYTHING? be careful, if you see only one footprint in the sand, perhaps that is when Big government is carrying you.
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      James Turner 10+

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      Feb 18 2013: So how do we fill the power void for the good of the people as govt shrinks? Does any nation need 40 to 50 percent of it's people dependent on govt largesse to survive?

      • Random Chance 30+

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        Feb 18 2013: Hi James.
        In today's world and the one (whatever that is), that is emerging, more and more of the populace of virtually any country will be dependent upon the (good) will of the people for survival.
        There are enough jobs of every variety today, to put almost everyone who can, to work doing something that the world and its inhabitants need and desire.
        A problem with that is that many of these jobs no one wants to do and one reason for that is they will not pay enough to live and survive on.
        I think government should be small everywhere, without the powers they have usurped from the people and the people have let them take or have.
        One benefit may be people will work together, country to country and begin solving their problems, or rather our problems. We all share them, as we are part of the reason for them.
        But it goes deeper or is more widespread than that.

        The corruption that all governments thrive on must be eliminated everywhere and one great way to do that is to end the global monetary system. Then, we will solve our problems.

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