How Much Central Government Is Too Much?

[WuWei]

Uh oh.

[e7alr]

Now you did it. Had to point out that government was not the inventor of slavery.

[WuWei]

Sorry.

[e7alr]

I’m about to burst his bubble even more. Society was the creator of slavery, some, but not all, governments have outlawed it.

[WuWei]

@e7alr

I’m about to burst his bubble even more. Society was the creator of slavery, some, but not all, governments have outlawed it.

Yet…

[e7alr]

Societal norms are hard to overcome, especially if the humans in government agree with those norms.

[Oryx]

@WuWei

When and where did government plow fields?

Never and nowhere that I’m aware of.

[WuWei]

Slavery still exists today.

[e7alr]

They tried to control that in the old Soviet Union. History tells how many died from famine when government tried to be the farmer.

[WuWei]

Mao and Pol Pot tried it too.

[tnt]

@WuWei

@tnt

@Smyrna

Nope…but he also didn’t ask for any help from the government

And of course he got help from the government - in the form of the government legalizing slavery so he could tend his business for pennies per hour…

That’s not exactly how it went. Slavery was “legal” before government.

And kept legal, enshrined in law and not abolished, as many countries were doing at the time.

I’m not saying these people weren’t great in their own way, but the myth of ‘we’ve lost our independent spirit…in the good old days people knew how to work! Now their all slaves to the government’ is a little silly.

[tnt]

@e7alr

I’m about to burst his bubble even more. Society was the creator of slavery, some, but not all, governments have outlawed it.

And our government enshrined it into law when they had no obligation to do so.

And many people directly benefited financially because of that governmental action.

[WuWei]

You’re looking at it backwards.

[tnt]

@e7alr

Societal norms are hard to overcome, especially if the humans in government agree with those norms.

Feeding your neighbor is a societal norm. Our government isn’t having much trouble dismantling that right now.

[tnt]

@WuWei

You’re looking at it backwards.

I’d enjoy chatting more…but I have to go tend to my fields.

By ‘tend’ I mean, cut and by ‘fields’ I mean mow.

If I don’t log on later, I’ve succumbed to the 98f heat with a real feel of infinity.

[7426k]

@Smyrna

Really? Do employers today directly pay for the housing and nutritional expense of their employees and do so on their own land? The expenses were handled differently but expenses were still there and they were handled by the land owners. Today the employees handle those things from their earnings.

This argument is not going to end well for you.

[e7alr]

Societal norms are not government mandates. You seem to suffer from the very same confusion between what is government and what is society that Paine referred to in his opening. Not using the treasury to pay for something does not prevent like minded members of society from banding together and paying by donation.

[Samm]

@tnt

Before this thread goes much further, are we talking about ANY central government, or just the FEDERAL CENTRAL government?

What is the difference between central government and government? Can government exist if it is not central to the society?

[Ben_Natuf]

it would be better if the states had it and not the feds

[SpadeMarlowe]

@tnt

@WuWei

@tnt

And to WW…theoretically, our existing central government has grown only within the confines of the constitution.

@tnt

But of course there are oversteps.

Both of those cannot be true.

Theoretically.

Every growth should be allowed by the framework of the constituion.

But I think sometimes the courts get that wrong.

Talk about courts getting it wrong…
Remmember the Roe v. Wade…
If it weren’t for Trump it would still be with us for another 50 years.
Thank you Mr. Trump.