Come on Dave....where would space exploration and satellite technology be without NASA? How many men would have been forced into the mines in our home state without public education? Where would counterfitting or bank fraud be without the FBI and Secret Service? Would businesses have committed to cleaning up our air and water without being forced by the US Government? Do you discount how much of a positive impact for businesses mass transit has made in our cities?
It’s easy to sit back and say, “eh private business would have done it all”, but thanks to our government — we don’t have to wonder.
Don’t discount the achievement of government Dave.
boom I love 'ya but you're a typical Big Government Leviathan loyalist who thinks nothing happens without or until government gives its permission.
Space exploration? Ever heard of Space X? Private concerns can do this cheaper and better. As great as NASA is, it was a huge expenditure and maybe held us back from more rapid development of advanced equipment and technology because it's so cumbersome! Look at all the private companies that actually did R&D for NASA? You didn't need Government gumming up those works. Computer processing, GPS technology, wireless applications are all a result of Space activity and all were developed by the private sector.
Poor public education forced more men into mines, instead of us developing more sophisticated machinery to help them be more efficient or productive. Again, you don't need Government to run schools, and where it does they are largely run poorly and produce mediocre or poor results.
Bank fraud and counterfeiting will be right where it is today. With chip technology, retina scanners, I.D. fingerprints, holographic imprints on money, and credit monitoring services to detect fraud. Yes you need courts to prosecute criminals, but you don't need Government police to protect financial assets. Private companies who already do most of that work for large corporations are perfectly capable of doing it for everyone else.
Yes businesses would comitt to cleaning our air and water because they do it now! They also live in the environments they operate in. They're not interested in poisoning their customers or themselves with dirty air and dirty water. EPA hasn't always been around, but to the extent it complicates business activity to clean up its own messes, it is more of a hindrance than a help. We clean up our own messes better than anyone else, and even Government relies on private enterprise to clean up the messes when they do happen.
Mass Transit? In most big cities it isn't even used. Where it works best, it's run privately. You don't need Government to move people around efficiently. Americans travel millions of miles everyday and do so without mass transit. You need efficiency driven by market demand and innovation. Most Government mass transit systems are bloated, inefficient, ineffective, and don't go where the people need them or where they live. Whole suburban communities have developed because of Mass transit's inability to get people to where they live or want to go. Strip Malls and suburban shopping centers are a direct result of Mass transit's inefficiencies.
The only things you need Government to do are those things outlined in the Constitution. Everything else is reserved for and should be done by the States and individuals.
