"Let's not be fooled by cynical politicians who are manipulating our economic crisis towards permanent ruin, what our country needs right now is to get off of its ass and start spending."
That's a quote from an insightful piece written by my friend, Colin Alcock, in response to the right wing's constant trying to demonize our government, saying the "government is the problem" ... well, you've heard it all, you know the rest of their litany. But just take a few moments to read Colin's refreshing piece ::::
I like government.
I like paved roads. I like libraries. I like post offices.
I
like a lot of the things that come from the government: firefighters,
for example. It's great knowing that if there's a fire, someone's gonna
come and put it out. Without the government, we wouldn't have public
firefighters. So thanks, government! Firefighters are awesome! (And
yes, even volunteer fire departments make use of federally funded
training and equipment.)
The government is constantly making sure
that we have the resources, infrastructure and protection that everyone needs. You benefit from that everyday.
that we have the resources, infrastructure and protection that everyone needs. You benefit from that everyday.
So it makes me mad when
people say that they don't like government, especially if they haven't
thought about what that really means. Do you like disaster relief? Do
you like schools? Do you like food safety regulations? Then you like
government.
There might be things related to government that you
don't like. Personally, there are plenty of policies that I disagree
with—but I realize that, at the end of the day, government is a good
thing.
Right now, our government is in a lot of trouble.
Politicians are trying to use the bad economy as an excuse to dismember
our government. Already, in Pennsylvania, where I live, the emergency
management budget has been quartered. In Philadelphia, where the
schools are already in bad shape, one-eighth of the teachers have been
fired (that's more than an entire grade level worth of teachers removed
from the district). They are eliminating school buses. The city
government is not keeping up with road maintenance. Across the river in
New Jersey, similar slash and burn tactics are being applied, and I
assume its the same in other states.
Unfortunately, these
austerity measures have long lasting consequences that will continue to
hurt us and our economies in years to come. (For example:
under-educated students lead to an under educated workforce, which leads
to lower paying jobs, which leads to a bad economy, which leads to
problems for everybody. That's why we need a healthy government,
because it can educate people, and everyone will make more money as a
result.)
The current "compromises" being discussed in Washington
will only make our situation worse. These "compromises" assume that
government is bad and attempt to disable it when, instead, we need to be
taking steps to make our government healthy, so that we can continue to
have things like roads, firefighters, libraries, post offices, etc. Please remember that government makes modern life possible. Government
facilitates the world we take for granted.
If you still think that
you do not like government, please move to someplace that doesn't have
one. (there are two options: a cave, far away in the woods, or Somolia.)
I like government, and I want to keep mine.
I really hope that
the "compromises" being discussed will prove politically untenable, and
that the president will be forced to act unilaterally, to raise the debt
ceiling through the power of the 14th amendment, without enacting any
of these idiotic austerity measures.
Even if that happens though, I
doubt he will have the courage to do what he needs to do next. Because
what this country needs right now is to pay for the services that will
help our economy recover. Yes, this does require defecit spending, but
that's how government works. later, when the economy is healthy, there
will be more taxes coming in because everyone will be making more money,
and then we will be able to pay down that defecit, as we did in the
prosperous 90s.
That's what's great about having a government: it
can spend the money that it needs to to fix the economy. Not only that:
that's what it is supposed to do.
Anyway, I hope I've explained
why I like government, and why I want one, and why I hope that we still
have one after August 2nd. I'm really tired of people acting like we
don't need a government or saying they don't like it, when, in fact,
everyone benefits from the government, everyone likes what it does, and
almost everyone needs it.
Let's not be fooled by cynical
politicians who are manipulating our economic crisis towards permanent ruin, what our country needs right now is to get off of its ass and start spending.
politicians who are manipulating our economic crisis towards permanent ruin, what our country needs right now is to get off of its ass and start spending.
To read Colin's piece from his own page, here is the click :::"I Like Government" ... (CLICK HERE)
