Apparently we're going to have to wait out the Trump post-election honeymoon period before people realize the message here. I wish the Trump admin luck, but no long-term solutions are forthcoming from government via "political means."
It's unsettling but unsurprising how many former skeptics of government during the Biden years are now embracing government to "fix" things. Deficit spending, warfare spending, and entitlements are here to stay. Like you, I hope for the best, but I harbor no illusions about government's ability to make life better while still growing and expropriating trillions of dollars from productive humans. That is up to individuals outside of politics.
It's the accountability factor - When we have private firms competing against one another, they'll strive to put forth their best and most reliable products as they can always measure their success via profit and losses, and these days, constant feedback.
When the State jumps in and seeks to "provide" any type of good or service, the accountability factor isn't there. There's no profit and loss, but instead, a 'take it or leave it' mechanism. Sure, we could try to elect the "right people," but I'm now 33 and have been paying attention to each election since 2000, when I was nine years old. I've yet to find out who these "right people" are.
Don't get me wrong: I had a preference in this past election, but it was mainly due to the candidate who I thought would likely do less damage than the other. Not exactly the right person, or right people, since I think we all know the national debt probably isn't decreasing any time soon and the Fed won't stop inflating the monetary supply.
As Sowell says, "Incentives matter." The more people ignore that dictum, the more we see intractable problems. War is a perfect example. If politicians themselves had to fight in and pay for such violence, me thinks peace might be more often on the menu. Likewise, what's the incentive for a drone pilot to refuse to press a button? If he or she could be prosecuted like ordinary people can be for bombing civilians, then it's likely that "talent" pool would dry up rather quickly.
Regarding the "right" people, I'm usually of the mind that the first person to volunteer to run for political office is the very last one I want anywhere near power. I much prefer when the best and brightest are hard at work on entrepreneurial endeavors because those will actually make people's lives better.
Apparently we're going to have to wait out the Trump post-election honeymoon period before people realize the message here. I wish the Trump admin luck, but no long-term solutions are forthcoming from government via "political means."
It's unsettling but unsurprising how many former skeptics of government during the Biden years are now embracing government to "fix" things. Deficit spending, warfare spending, and entitlements are here to stay. Like you, I hope for the best, but I harbor no illusions about government's ability to make life better while still growing and expropriating trillions of dollars from productive humans. That is up to individuals outside of politics.
It's the accountability factor - When we have private firms competing against one another, they'll strive to put forth their best and most reliable products as they can always measure their success via profit and losses, and these days, constant feedback.
When the State jumps in and seeks to "provide" any type of good or service, the accountability factor isn't there. There's no profit and loss, but instead, a 'take it or leave it' mechanism. Sure, we could try to elect the "right people," but I'm now 33 and have been paying attention to each election since 2000, when I was nine years old. I've yet to find out who these "right people" are.
Don't get me wrong: I had a preference in this past election, but it was mainly due to the candidate who I thought would likely do less damage than the other. Not exactly the right person, or right people, since I think we all know the national debt probably isn't decreasing any time soon and the Fed won't stop inflating the monetary supply.
As Sowell says, "Incentives matter." The more people ignore that dictum, the more we see intractable problems. War is a perfect example. If politicians themselves had to fight in and pay for such violence, me thinks peace might be more often on the menu. Likewise, what's the incentive for a drone pilot to refuse to press a button? If he or she could be prosecuted like ordinary people can be for bombing civilians, then it's likely that "talent" pool would dry up rather quickly.
Regarding the "right" people, I'm usually of the mind that the first person to volunteer to run for political office is the very last one I want anywhere near power. I much prefer when the best and brightest are hard at work on entrepreneurial endeavors because those will actually make people's lives better.