Re: 2012 Elections in 3-D!
and what kind of generalization is this??
I do believe that government has the capacity to help people as long as we remember that government -- any government -- is run by human beings, and human beings by their nature are fallible, and so a separation of powers and limited government are essential. I've argued before in other posts that the Food and Drug Administration, for example, is a reasonable function of government, and so your generalization is belied when you use the term "the rest of you" to dismiss legitimate concerns about the need for restraint on "excessive" government power.
I do not think it is unfair to say that generally progressives tend to be optismistic about human nature (I am tempted to use the word "unduly optimistic" here except that would then be shading the argument and validate your criticism!). The idea that a government program might be scammed by fraudsters, you must admist, does not seem to be included during their initial planning stages; most of the fraud seems to be discovered retroactively, and people always seem to be surprised by it this time.
In other words, government can help people and government can also screw people over. It is foolish not to admit the former, it is dangerously naive to overlook the latter.
and what kind of generalization is this??
I do believe that government has the capacity to help people as long as we remember that government -- any government -- is run by human beings, and human beings by their nature are fallible, and so a separation of powers and limited government are essential. I've argued before in other posts that the Food and Drug Administration, for example, is a reasonable function of government, and so your generalization is belied when you use the term "the rest of you" to dismiss legitimate concerns about the need for restraint on "excessive" government power.
I do not think it is unfair to say that generally progressives tend to be optismistic about human nature (I am tempted to use the word "unduly optimistic" here except that would then be shading the argument and validate your criticism!). The idea that a government program might be scammed by fraudsters, you must admist, does not seem to be included during their initial planning stages; most of the fraud seems to be discovered retroactively, and people always seem to be surprised by it this time.
In other words, government can help people and government can also screw people over. It is foolish not to admit the former, it is dangerously naive to overlook the latter.
, yes.