Originally Posted by
BoldPilot
Yes, it kind of is my point of good apples and bad apples. I think entrepreneurship is fantastic! It is the backbone of this country and makes it great.
But......
There are companies that view profits as more important than the greater good of society. Let’s see here...Boeing and the Max, Ford and the Pinto, Lehman Brothers and various other investment banks with the sub prime mortgage fiasco that almost caused a complete meltdown of the world financial system, and Wells Fargo opening up accounts against their customers wishes.
Government had to step in with these issues and regulate. Somebody had to stand up to these companies, because they thought they could get away with it. Government does have a purpose. Life is not a free for all with no consequences, because you have money and power.
Every one of those examples is a self correcting system. Boeing loses the faith of its customers and has to correct the flaws. After news reports Ford corrects the safety issues with the Pinto. Lehman et. al. were forced into shaky lending practices by a government program that insisted anyone should be able to get a mortgage and own a home. Wells Fargo lost many customers and paid hefty fines after what they were doing was made public by customers not found out by regulators.
Let's get back to your premise that government programs are out for the good of the people. The ideas behind the programs might have been well intentioned but you have to understand that those administrators of those programs do not benefit in any way by actually helping the people in them improve their lot in life and get out. Those administrators will yield to basic human instincts toward self preservation and act in ways to keep and grow their sphere of influence, even if not consciously. The Federal government should only be doing the things spelled out in the constitution, nothing more. Every day to day government service was intended to be done at the most local level possible. That is where the citizens have the most power to keep control and the most good can be done with the lowest cost and the most accountability.