Good Intentions? Or Just Bad Solutions?
December 4, 2009
Who doesn’t want to end world hunger? Who doesn’t want to see a cure for AIDS? Who wouldn’t be happy to see everyone have health care? Who doesn’t want all children to have an education? Who doesn’t wish we didn’t have to go overseas to outsource jobs? The answer is nobody.
We all want to see the end of suffering and we all want the world to be a better place. But in a world where economies are struggling, countries are being oppressed by their leaders, and scandals in government are an everyday occurrence, how can we expect our good intentions to become a reality? Is it even possible to live in this fantasy world where everybody is content and free of struggle?
Our nation has come up with some solutions. Bad ones. These “solutions” involve asking citizens to give more and more of their money to the government so that it may be put towards agencies and programs that are supposed to help resolve each respective problem. (http://www.ospb.state.az.us/documents/2009/2008-10MasterList-Final.pdf). One major problem with this, among many, is that these programs almost always suck. After we unwillingly give them our money lest we are arrested for tax evasion, it’s wasted on poorly planned, poorly executed endeavours.
So… do we give them the benefit of the doubt and say they had the best intentions? Maybe they just care so much about the issues that they want to execute as many programs as possible and spend as much money as they can until the problem finally vanishes. Because throwing money at problems has always worked so well in the past. If this is the solution we are going to stick with and try over and over again to no avail, then we’re in for many more years of disappointment and wasted money.
“So Jill, what’s your plan to solve all of the world’s problems?”
If I knew that, I like to think I would have done something about it by now. What I do know is the government does not have a place in regulating our private lives and it underestimates our willingness to help others. Do they really think we are so incompetent that we can’t solve our own problems? I guess that isn’t so surprising with how many people are out there whining and demanding their assistance.
Which brings me to my next point… whatever happened to helping ourselves? Helping each other without being forced to? If 25% of my paycheck didn’t automatically go to the government and its wasteful and inefficient bureaucratic bullshit, I could instead give that portion to a worthy charity that actually does do something to resolve a public issue. Only God knows if I would actually be generous enough to give that much. But even if I just gave 1% of my check to a private charity, I still think it would do more good than the 25% the government takes from me and recklessly squanders.
My least favorite thing that people tend to do to make politicians look bad, as if they don’t already look bad enough just being a politician, is automatically condemning them for voting against bills that are well-intentioned but are blatantly unnecessary. Sometimes you hear about a bill that sounds like it does nothing but good, but it turns out not to be the most intelligent plan. John McCain, for example, supposedly voted against the Violence Against Women Act. Why would John McCain ever do that? The VAWA was a legislation made to put an end to charging rape victims for sexual assault exams. I’m sure it’s because he hates women and gets sick pleasure in watching them suffer. Right? Afterall, he’s an old, pasty white man set in the ways which automatically makes him intolerant of others.
Now for the correct story. In 1994, McCain voted against a crime bill that just included the Violence Against Women Act. He did not oppose VAWA itself but the extra spending included in the bill that he felt was unrelated to crime, so he voted against it. Nine months prior, McCain supported the original bill, which also included VAWA but did not include the extra spending he ended up voting against later. In 2005, McCain even introduced a companion bill to VAWA that protected the rights of Indian women. “The 1994 Violence Against Women Act has had a tremendous impact on raising the national awareness of domestic violence and providing communities, including Indian tribes, the resources to respond to the devastating impact of domestic violence,” he said.
See, this is what happens when you search for all of the facts instead of blindly trusting the liberal media. Next time you see a smear campaign that makes a candidate look like heartless demon seed, just ask yourself: “Is it plausible that this person is that evil? Could he really be heartless demon seed?” 9 times out of 10, the person turns out not to be heartless demon seed and just needs his side of the story told. Generally, they have a pretty good explanation.
The reason I wanted to bring that up was to support my original thought. No mentally stable person is in favor of letting people suffer, which is what makes radical statements like those said in smear campaigns ridiculous. Perhaps what our government fears is that if they stopped collecting money for human rights efforts, then nobody would be helped. They are underestimating the power of private charities. If the government gave up on using our tax dollars for humanitarian efforts and let private charities work their magic instead, people would be willingly donating their money to competing organizations who have the motive to be as efficient as possible … because (gasp) they want to succeed. When you voluntarily give your money to a private charity and you find out they are inefficient, you stop donating to them. When you involuntarily give your money to our government and you find out they are inefficient, you can’t stop paying them because you will be arrested. The truth is, the government doesn’t like anything to be private… given the opportunity, they would have a hand in every part of your life. Everything you do would require filling out a government form. They don’t like things being done without their supervision.
Now, if we were to rely on people donating to private charities now, I doubt it would be very effective. The unemployment rate is sky high and people are struggling to take care of themselves let alone each other. So. Our liberal government would probably agree that, if the economy were better and more people were working and earning more money, they would be more willing to donate cash to help causes. Great. Let’s fix the economy.
Our government’s solution for fixing the econony = Spending. Bail-outs. Stimulus plans. Welfare. Sure, why not? Because what I like to do when I’m $12 trillion dollars in debt is spend more money than ever. No. The better solution, nay, the only solution, is to take the clips off the wings of the free market. Just let it go. Nail anyone who earns their money illegally (ie, murder, threats, stealing), but other than that, get your regulations out of business. Oh, and stop paying people to sit around on their porches and drink Michelob. They are pretty comfy there and I doubt they will want to get up unless you make them.
Ahh finally, the market can breathe! Without unions making unbelievable demands for paid vacations, higher wages and 50 cigarette breaks a day, operations are better than ever! We can give raises to the hardest working people and give them bigger roles to make the business even better. Our taxes are no longer astronomical, so we can finally expand and create more jobs! We can produce more and bring the price of our products and services down so that more people can afford us! We are able to take a larger cut of our profits to put towards humanitarian efforts! Plus, we and our shareholders can earn more money and use it to stimulate the economy!
Wow, who would have thought that just one concept- a free market- could fix our problems? Who knew that we don’t need the government for jack shit?* Also, who would’ve thought that rich people are good for the economy? We want people to get rich. It circulates more money, which improves our fiscal environment, which increases production, which expands businesses, which creates more jobs … and that benefits everyone.
It may be with the best intentions that our leaders do what they do to improve our country, but what they are doing does not work. In fact, I’m pretty positive that what they are doing is only stifling any progress that could be made… Do I have your vote in 2012?
References
Ad distorts McCain’s record on Violence Against Women Act
* We need the government for law enforcement and national defense. But that’s pretty much it.
