This is in response to a blog post titled "Government: It's Just a Job " from the blog "Political Lemonade"
Excellent post Casey.
Mistrust in government is a huge block to making social progress in America and has been an especially destructive force since the start of the Obama administration. At one point, talking points on certain cable news programs were sincerely speculating about the idea of government death panels. Some shows on this same cable network feature a swastika as a regular stage prop for discussions of the Obama administration.
It is nothing but ironic that mistrust in the government has gotten so bad these past two years when much of the nations problems have been caused by the greed of corporations. People look at our slowly recovering economy and say, "Bad Government!!" Have these people forgotten who lead us into this recession in the first place?
I suppose government is an easy target for many Americans; or maybe more accurately, the only target. When so many Americans have committed themselves to religiously believing the free market is a holy, self-correcting, fix all panacea, the government is often the only entity left to blame.
This view that government can't get anything right is perpetuated by adopting a persistent double standard in measuring performance. When private insurance companies take part in predatory exclusions to deny coverage, it's seen as no fault to capitalism, but rather a fixable problem that needs attention. However, when Social Security is forecasted to start paying out more than it receives in 2044, it is a sure sign that government can't get anything right and that Social Security is a complete failure. The reality of the situation is that Social Security needs some tweaking within the next ~30 years to balance the books. This is hardly a crisis. What private company could survive for 30 years without dynamically changing itself in response to its environment?
I don't believe that government always gets it right. However, I do believe that the government can often have higher ethical interests in mind whereas corporations are driven solely by profits. When it comes to vital social services, I distrust corporations far more than government.
