I think we need two good, strong parties to make our government work. Otherwise, you get what we have now, which isn’t pretty. So I don’t want to see a purer Democratic or Republican party, which is what party partisans are always calling for – I’d like to see two sane, responsible big tent parties vie for votes while taking a long term view of the election process. Instead, what we have is one party taking advantage of the fact that the other has become, well, deranged. And the fact that the national media has joined the one party in its madness and is doing it’s best to distort reality doesn’t help – which is how you get a majority of people supporting private Social Security accounts but a majority dissaproving President Bushes plan on Social Security, which consisted of a nebulous plan for private accounts.
Posts Tagged government
Better Government
Jul 20
An Oldie But A Goodie
Jul 8
As a follow-up to my previous post about Africa, I saw Instapundit’s post on Max Boot’s column about sub-standard government being the major problem in Africa which reminded me of my earlier post on the same subject:
What are rogue nations but those with particularly wretched governments – or government of the tyrant, by the tyrant, and for the tyrant. The countries that are the worst to live in are those with the worst governments. Poor countries are poor because their governments keep them poor through (at best) mismanagement and (at worst) deliberate rule for the ruler’s sake. Frankly, no government should be considered legitimate that doesn’t have the consent of it’s people in free and fair elections. The best way to decrease poverty, to reduce war, to reduce human suffering would be to improve government globally.
Imagine me at the Miss America pageant (it’s easy if you try), and after making it through the swimsuit competition, we come to the question: “What is the biggest problem facing the world today?” I’d have my answer ready: bad government. Poverty, war, environmental destruction, most real suffering can be traced back to poor government. The sad thing is, good government isn’t a big mystery. It’s hard because it means overthrowing entrenched interests, and it requires practice, but it’s well worth it.
The United States became the sole superpower in large part because of our government. Representation and consent of the governed (AKA democracy), the rule of law and not men, private property, contract rights, and free markets, essential liberties (such as freedom of speech and religion) — these are all known and understood. The government that governs least governs best is a good rule of thumb toward regulation and regimentation, not the core functions of government.
What are rogue nations but those with particularly wretched governments – or government of the tyrant, by the tyrant, and for the tyrant. The countries that are the worst to live in are those with the worst governments. Poor countries are poor because their governments keep them poor through (at best) mismanagement and (at worst) deliberate rule for the ruler’s sake. Frankly, no government should be considered legitimate that doesn’t have the consent of it’s people in free and fair elections. The best way to decrease poverty, to reduce war, to reduce human suffering would be to improve government globally.
