Originally Posted by
Seneca Pilot
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.
Okay I won’t sit here and say that government is perfect. It’s definitely not. We do need it though until we find a better way to run a civilization. Humans throughout history have tried to find a perfect government that is more efficient to no avail. I don’t like when people try to condense America to the constitution. The constitution created this country. A country is an entity, it exists in our minds because a large group of people says it exists. Much like a corporation. Just like any entity it
EVOLVES. What worked in 1776 isn’t necessarily going to work in 2020. The world changes and we need to adapt. They didn’t have airplanes and the internet in 1776. Those that don’t adapt end up like the Persian and Roman Empire.
As far as your claim that people in the government don’t benefit from these programs you’re right but an elected official in government is in a public service position and public service is just that....serving the public.