What of the quote from William Cohen, Republican, Defense Secretary

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   Jillian Barclayposted 14 years ago

   "Government is your enemy, until you need a friend." Do you agree?

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      Evan G Rogersposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      no.
      
      Everything government does is through aggression. If you disagree with this, then see what happens when you stop paying taxes.

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         Jillian Barclayposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Why should I stop paying taxes? Even though there are many things I don't like paying for, there are many things I need- police, fire, roads, bridges, education, military, etc. I know those things need to be paid for. If there is no government, there is anarchy. Whoever has the most guns becomes the most powerful. I don't want to have to fight the neighboring warlord to get food. Would you abolish all government? What, if anything would you keep?

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            Ron Montgomeryposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Government of course cannot be abolished; that libertarian fantasy would soon become a nightmare.  If anarchists could magically make governments vanish into thin air, new governments would quickly form to take their place.
            
            What the anarchists are actually advocating is a transformation of government.  They would do away with all forms of representative government (those where we all have a say) and turn power over to those who have the most money.  Laws would still be violently enforced as they are now, the difference is that the force would be wielded by a tiny minority rather than society at large.
            
            Sounds pretty good huh?
            
            Get ready, you're about to get a damned silly post about how the magical "invisible hand" of capitalism will solve all our problems by providing all that is needed to live a peaceful, prosperous life will be provided.
            
            It reminds me of that scene in "The Wizard of Oz" where the wizard's curtain is pulled back.

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         Ralph Deedsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Aggression??  Laws passed by our democratically elected representatives is aggression?

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         sandra rinckposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Misha doesn't and he is just fine.

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      Brenda Durhamposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      We need government.  Yes, government is our friend, at least a proper government is.   Would people rather have chaos?  Or keep fighting to have a government that's based on what's best for the people?
      What we need is a better system of checks and balances to control our government, because that's what government is supposed to do, BE controlled by the people based on common rules of morality, fiscally and socially.
      
      When government turns into a tyranny, however, like our current one is, we need to remember our rights to legally wipe the slate clean and start over if necessary.

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   Mighty Momposted 14 years ago

   In what way is our current government a tyranny?
   As to wiping the slate clean, let's say we did get rid of all 100 senators and 435 members of Congress.
   And we would replace them with "common" citizens (for example, "I'm you" O'Donnell).
   Do you really think 535 ordinary citizens, with no legislative experience, who have never had to read through a multi-page bill and sort through the primary language vs. the add-on pork, are going to do a better job?
   What kind of learning curve would you expect if no one was left who'd done this before?
   This is not 1776 with 13 colonies and one common, identified enemy (Britain). It's 2010.
   The governing of our country is an extremely complicated business.
   I believe oversimplifying it is very dangerous.

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      Brenda Durhamposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Of course oversimplifying it is dangerouss!
      But not nearly as dangerous as having people in Office like Obama and Pelosi and the other Democrats who sneaked and bullied everyone in order to get that huge Bill approved that they themselves hadn't even read!

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         sandra rinckposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         What exactly did Obama and Pelosi do that has you so ready to burn them in Hell for again?  Funny is how you bitch about how they did you wrong but you have no idea what is in the bill yourself.
         
         You bitch about how the government is making you pay and they take away the states authority by making you buy health insurance and still you haven't read the bill.
         
         You still don't seem to 'believe' that your state doesn't have to go along with the health care bill.
         
         You haven't even respected that fact that as an individual, you do not have to purchase health care for "religious"... it is in the bill!
         
         Though you wouldn't know that because anything that comes from my "black heart" isn't worth listening to right? 
         
         So besides the unfairness of health care you implore, what else did they do that has you so "gosh darn mad!"

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   Mighty Momposted 14 years ago

   I assume you are speaking of the health care bill.
   Pelosi and Reid and Obama didn't read the bill?
   I think they did.
   It's not a perfect bill by any stretch, but is a big step in the right direction.
   Our citizens need and deserve health care that doesn't cost 1/2 their salaries and then doesn't protect them when they get sick.
   Time to end our enslavement to big insurance and drug companies.

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      Brenda Durhamposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      If they read it, then they read it.
      Part of the problem is that Obama said the word "transparency" and then skulked around behind closed doors, barring even the Republicans from knowing what he and his cronies were up to,  and promised to post bills online for public viewing, AND Pelosi said they'd need to get the Bill passed before we know what's even in it!   Not only does that sound like we weren't worthy to get to read the Bill, but it sounds like SHE didn't even know what was in it herself.
      Such nonsense!
      Obama, twice that I heard of, bullied Congress, too, telling them to "buck up" and get it done.  Strong-arm Chicago politics there, softened only because he knew he couldn't outright force Congress to do anything. 
      AND....the Bill, any Bill, should've originated from the people, not from the President.  A total reversal of the proper system of entering Bills into the system to be made into law.
      Again I say it's all nonsense.  Those people aren't Statesmen/women, they're not representing us, they're bullying us all and putting their own personal agendas into place.

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      Jillian Barclayposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Mighty Mom, I agree with you! I took a long time and read the bill and actually re-read some of the parts that so many Repubs were complaining about. The bill is not perfect, but it can be built upon. The idea that over 30 million people don't have health care in our country is shameful! There is nothing in the bill that does all of the horrible things people are saying. It takes a step in the right direction.
      
      The people who complain about the bill may not believe me, but I have been involved when babies are turned down for organ transplants because the parents don't have the money. Everyone insists that you just go to the emergency room. Right! But the hospital is only obliged to stabalize someone, not cure them.
      
      As for taxes, haven't seen my taxes go up! Have seen them go down. And as for being sneaky-I watched the goings on every single day on C-Span.

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   Jonathan Jancoposted 14 years ago

   This reminds me of when the PATRIOT ACT was passed and all of the Repubs were foaming at the mouth about how anyone who doesn't vote for it is a traitor. And then of course it passes and it turns out to be the most tyrranical piece of legislation passed for a long time. Not only have we not used it to catch terrorists, but we didn't even use the 'advantages' of the PATRIOT ACT to seize the assets of bankers and Wall Street swindlers who could have then been put on show trials and publicly executed for putting this great country at even greater risk than any terrorist ever could.

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      Jillian Barclayposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Patriot Act was probably Never read by any of the people who said it did not take any rights away! They just assume that anything titled 'Patriot Act' is good! And you can't really talk to people that just hear something and then believe it to be fact!
      
      Jonathan, The right does not want bankers punished! The right wants to be bankers! And most of the women on the right just want to marry bankers!

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         Jonathan Jancoposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         That is why the Left needs to be more like itself:-)

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   Jonathan Jancoposted 14 years ago

   But to answer the initial question. No I don't agree. I'm going to maintain that Government is your friend. And remember that friends do occasionally disagree, scream at each other, play dirty tricks on each other for fun, and even rarely we end up fist-fighting each other in the middle of the street after last call.

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