GOT TO THINKING THE OTHER DAY ABOUT STUFF THAT IS CONTROLLED BY THE GOVERNMENT. I CAME TO REALIZE THAT I COULD NOT THINK OF ANYTHING THAT IT DOES NOT CONTROL. THE WATER, AIR, FOOD, THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN, THE CAR WE DRIVE, THE ROAD WE DRIVE, WHEN WE DRIVE, WHERE THE ROAD GOES, THE CLOTHES WE WEAR, THE TIME WE GO THE WORK, HOW LONG WE WORK, WHAT JOBS WE CAN DO, HOW MUCH WE GET PAID. SOME MAY SAY THAT THESE CONTROLS MAKE THING SAFER, AND I AGREE THEY DO, BUT CONTROL IS STILL CONTROL AND THE OPPOSITE OF CONTROL IS FREEDOM. I STILL CANNOT THINK OF ANYTHING THE GOVERMENT DOES NOT CONTROL.
There's good control and bad control. AGREED BUT CONTROL IT IS, I RATHER DECIDE FOR MYSELF WHAT IS SAFE AND WHAT IS NOT.
The water - I'll take controlled water over non-controlled water; ESPECIALLY in a city
The Air - Remember when LA had acid rain and smog alerts...I'm cool with not going back to that.
Food - I'll take food that's safe to eat over the roll your dice method
The house we live in - Building codes save a chit load of lives.
The car we drive - Less emissions, better mileage, safer by a HUGE margin; I'm good with that.
The road we drive - You know how abusive dirt roads are to your vehicles; I'll take government roads. That's one of the few things they do pretty well.
When we drive??? I don't get that one, I drive whenever the hell I want IF YOU WORK THEN THE GOVT CONTROLS WHEN YOU DRIVE BY CONTROLLING THE WORK DAY LENGTH, START AND STOP TIMES.
Where the road goes - Well I much prefer roads that go to places that I want to go over the "roads to nowhere". Government legitimately provides both, so you get at best a half point there.
The clothes we wear - They do ensure that textiles are free of pathogens, I'm good with that. And they also require that your clothes not be fire magnets...I kinda like not bursting into flames (but I still get flamed a lot here)
The time we go to work - Not unless you work for the government slick. I work for a private company, and my boss controls when I come and go from work.IN LARGER AREAS THE GOVT. HAS COMPANIES STAGGER THIER START TIMES TO REDUCE TRAFFIC CONJESTION
How long we work - Wrong again, I used to work 96 hours a week, and the government didn't stop that. I worked 4 24 hour shifts per week on the Ambulance, and then a 12 shift at the hospital on Saturday. CAN YOU WORK 24 HRS A DAY EVERY DAY, INCLUDING WEEK ENDS?
What jobs we can do - Well, OSHA is a real pain in the arse, but their regs have saved a lot of lives. I don't think anyone is looking to go back to the days of no PPE for employees.
How much we get paid - It wasn't some big "government ogre" that determined minimum wage, the 40 hour work weeks, or when overtime pay starts. It was demanded by the people. Think I'm wrong? Just try taking that away. And to be honest, that's standard in all first world nations. One freedom we do have, you can move to a 3rd world nation if you want to work longer hours with less pay. TRUE BUT THEN YOU WOULDN'T BE CONTROLLED BY THE US GOVT.
Most here are rather anti-government, and I really share that sentiment. But many here are what I'd call extremists. They think if a little of something is good, then a lot must always be better. Like their "conservatism". If a little conservatism is good, then complete must be nirvana. Sorry, just doesn't work that way. They'd completely abolish government. I say government exists because anarchy is a failure.
There are things that I like government to do, and things I don't like. I don't like our tax system, love to chit can the whole thing and go to a consumption tax. I don't like our loss of our right to privacy, I'd live to have that back and every POS involved with taking it away prosecuted. I don't like how we treat corporations, but I also don't like how corporations have very un-balanced control of the political process. I don't like the crap our law makers get away with. I could go on. My point is, all government isn't bad, but it is evil; so never take your eye off of it.
