more bitching

while enjoying a beach experience recently, it occurred to me that those who rail about government, against government never seem to get it right on their bitching. what are they angry about? it does seem that when they get into some sort of trouble, then they are angry that the government does not do something about their particular issue. once again, Libertarians trouble me on their absurd ideas when it comes to government and governance.

back to the beach. had it not been for a State Park (read government), it would have been far and away tougher to enjoy a pristine beach. if the private enterprisers had their way, the beach would have been littered with high rise condos, a private golf course and absolutely no access to the place by those with lesser means. the same might be said for Yellowstone National Park where you would have to sneak onto the land because Ted Turner owned it and that was that. were it not for government, we would hardly have drinkable water available to all or electricity to rural areas. no decent roads except for a few and pricey toll roads. no bridges and so on and so forth. government can get big things done in a big way. and were it not for the big roads courtesy of government, the private car dealer would be unable to interest anyone in the junk they sell. there is enough private enterprise around to still adequately screw 'joe citizen'. does anyone really believe car makers would have installed seat belts of their own accord? or airbags? or decent tires for that matter. the anti-government types get plenty of help from the government either directly or indirectly to make their tidy sums.

there was an important line from the movie MASTER AND COMMANDER which Russell Crowe spoke to his doctor friend who was constantly whining about the injustices of the navy life. the line goes something like this, "men must be governed, sometimes poorly admittedly, but they must be governed". can this be denied? what Libertarians want is to be left alone by government until such time as their house is on fire. volunteer fire departments are notoriously less efficient than government operated ones.

would less government in the US of A benefit anyone to any magnitude? there is no one who has gotten to a position of wealth apart from help from the government directly or indirectly. i think those who yearn for total freedom are those who quite likely are pretty much amoral in their affections for their fellowman. it would be well to remember that history is mostly about nations that thrived off the backs of their citizens so that a relative few could enjoy the "good life". Greece and Rome lived off of slave labor. Russian Communists lived well off the labor of the other 95% of the population. pick a nation state and the same pretty much holds true. ironically, it is government that controls the unwashed masses as they labor to support the upper crust. the same is true for America the beautiful except that the government tends to level playing fields vis-a-vis law and cash distribution. American government has by and large worked pretty well within the Constitution. what do Libertarians want to change?

i would rather opt for government than opt for abject slavery to some weaselly white guy who owns a car dealership.