| SamuelRSmith said: Finally, you make a statement that I can agree with! Although, I would say that there needs to be a locally funded police force (with far fewer powers and resources than what they currently have, particularly in Britain, and far fewer actual police...), as that comes into the role of Government of protecting our rights. Providing shelter for the homeless? It's a tragedy, but not a role for the Government. Banning people from public streets? Well, I don't necessarily agree with the notion of public streets. I'd just like to point out, however, that whatever it is that is going on here, clearly disproves your stance on governmental assistance, when the government can so easily treat the homeless this way. Sure, they're receiving funding cuts, but do you honestly think that there weren't other things that could have been cut first? I don't know about this particular case, but it happened earlier in the year in the UK. The Government announced that they were cutting funding to local councils. Local councils each have dozens of jobs that pay 6 figure salaries + bonuses. They also have entire departments with very little value. What gets cut when their funding gets cut? Libraries and public loos. Their salaries either stayed the same, or increased, and councils maintained funding for ridiculous self-serving schemes (like Essex Council (my council) hiring in a new staff to deal with the council's PR... with the head position paying over £100k). |
Of course, this raises questions like why do we have governments in the first place? Why do we form societies? Is it not to increase the greater good of the whole? Is it not so that we can be more functional and productive than if we stood alone?
If the intent of society is to further the good of the general populace, then do actions like these help in attaining that goal? If the formation of society has nothing to do with that, then why have protective laws at all? Why not return to anarchy centered around "might makes right"?
Edit:
And I can only imagine how the US would be had the federal government not funded our highway system upon the urging of the Department of Defense. It'd be toll roads galore! And they'd be charging insane fees giving they know people would have no option other than to pay. Their costs per person would've increased and the economic growth of the entire country would've been slowed considerably.
