I can’t really understand the tradition of never trusting the government in the US. The government is designed in a way that enables, even requires public oversight, public opinion. If that is not the case, you are not living in a democracy. Many Americans trust private initiatives, charity more than taxes and a working public system. People have no say in what corporations do. If people don’t trust the government the attitude should be towards fixing it and enabling trust, not to accept it as is. I am not judging, maybe a little bit but not really. I live in a middle eastern country. We really don’t trust the government but we keep working on steering it in the right direction. We are many times smaller than the US but we have minimum income, universal healthcare, unions are the norm, etc.
I can’t really understand the tradition of never trusting the government in the US
I used to trust them, before 9/11 when I was young and naive. Then the attack happened. We ended up with bipartisan legislation to strip our civil liberties, torture captives, spy on citizens in direct violation of the bill of rights, and invade 2 countries that had nothing to do with it. Never again.
People have no say in what corporations do
Shareholders do. They get a vote. The government is essentially a mutual fund you’re legally obligated to buy into.
If people don’t trust the government the attitude should be towards fixing it and enabling trust, not to accept it as is.
I agree. I also believe we should take care of that before we go granting them vast additional powers.
We are many times smaller than the US but we have minimum income, universal healthcare, unions are the norm, etc.
Thats a good example of why universal healthcare doesn’t need to be at the federal level here. States like New York and California are larger than many countries which have universal healthcare. What’s stopping them from passing it themselves?
But corporations hold each other accountable. They have to compete for your trust. If corporation A does something shady then it’s im their competitors interest to call them out in order to raise people’s trust in themselves. There are also countless charities and third party sites to grade them. I can choose which programs I fund. I don’t get any say in what government gets my taxes or what the government does with my taxes. What if I don’t want to fund war but want my money to go to charity to help the poor? How effective is universal healthcare where you are?
Wow, you seriously still believe that corporations compete with eachother in the healthcare sector despite the fact that most insurance companies have a “network” specifically so that they don’t have to compete with eachother? How is healthcare a competitive market that drives towards efficiency exactly? The more you privatise healthcare the lower life expectancy you get and the higher you all pay!
I can’t really understand the tradition of never trusting the government in the US. The government is designed in a way that enables, even requires public oversight, public opinion. If that is not the case, you are not living in a democracy. Many Americans trust private initiatives, charity more than taxes and a working public system. People have no say in what corporations do. If people don’t trust the government the attitude should be towards fixing it and enabling trust, not to accept it as is. I am not judging, maybe a little bit but not really. I live in a middle eastern country. We really don’t trust the government but we keep working on steering it in the right direction. We are many times smaller than the US but we have minimum income, universal healthcare, unions are the norm, etc.
I used to trust them, before 9/11 when I was young and naive. Then the attack happened. We ended up with bipartisan legislation to strip our civil liberties, torture captives, spy on citizens in direct violation of the bill of rights, and invade 2 countries that had nothing to do with it. Never again.
Shareholders do. They get a vote. The government is essentially a mutual fund you’re legally obligated to buy into.
I agree. I also believe we should take care of that before we go granting them vast additional powers.
Thats a good example of why universal healthcare doesn’t need to be at the federal level here. States like New York and California are larger than many countries which have universal healthcare. What’s stopping them from passing it themselves?
But corporations hold each other accountable. They have to compete for your trust. If corporation A does something shady then it’s im their competitors interest to call them out in order to raise people’s trust in themselves. There are also countless charities and third party sites to grade them. I can choose which programs I fund. I don’t get any say in what government gets my taxes or what the government does with my taxes. What if I don’t want to fund war but want my money to go to charity to help the poor? How effective is universal healthcare where you are?
Wow, you seriously still believe that corporations compete with eachother in the healthcare sector despite the fact that most insurance companies have a “network” specifically so that they don’t have to compete with eachother? How is healthcare a competitive market that drives towards efficiency exactly? The more you privatise healthcare the lower life expectancy you get and the higher you all pay!
If one trusted their government, then, arguably, none of these checks would be required.
The trust in private enterprise is predicated on one’s ability and ease to opt out of such a system. The same cannot be said for the government.