Does anybody still believe that our government has our best interests in mind?

I've been taking my time reading threads here on ATS and I've come to the conclusion that our government does not have our best interests in mind. Am I wrong to think that we are at the point of no return? I mean who can you really believe anymore. There's so much information and propaganda out there that trying to disseminate fact from fiction is almost impossible. Is this a giant conspiracy to keep us all second guessing ourselves?

of course the government is to be trusted

Governments have our best interests in mind. It's the way that they carry them out that usually makes them either worse or artificially better. That's not to say that all the things that government does are wrong, or that I might not agree with certain things that the government does. But because the government has the power of coercion-- that's naturally what happens. This blog post explains what I'm talking about in a bit more detail, I don't completely agree with it but it'll give you some idea of what I mean.

The law of unintended consequences is what happens when a simple system tries to regulate a complex system. The political system is simple, it operates with limited information (rational ignorance), short time horizons, low feedback, and poor and misaligned incentives. Society in contrast is a complex, evolving, high-feedback, incentive-driven system. When a simple system tries to regulate a complex system you often get unintended consequences.

Unintended consequences are not restricted to government regulation of society but can also happen when government tries to regulate other complex systems such as the ecosystem (e.g. fire prevention policy that reduces forest diversity and increases mass fires, dam building that destroys wet lands and makes floods more likely etc.) Unintended consequences can even happen in the attempted regulation of complex physical systems (here is a classic example involving turbulence).

The fact that unintended consequences of government regulation are usually (but not always or necessarily) negative is not an accident. A regulation requiring apartments to have air-conditioning, for example, pushes the rental contract against the landlord and in favor of the tenant but the landlord can easily push back by raising the rent and in so doing will create a situation where both the landlord and tenant are worse off.

More generally, when regulation pushes against incentives, incentives tend to push back creating unintended consequences. Not all regulation pushes against incentives, some regulations try to change incentives but incentives are complex and constraints change so even incentive-driven regulations can have unintended consequences.

Does the law of unintended consequences mean that the government should never try to regulate complex systems? No, of course not, but it does mean that regulators should be humble (no trying to remake man and society) and the hurdle for regulation should be high.

www.marginalrevolution.com...

The scariest words in the English Language.

I am from the government and I am here to help.

Originally posted by saltheart foamfollower
The scariest words in the English Language.

I am from the government and I am here to help.

A star for that because I couldn't agree more. ANYONE who chooses to follow anything or anyone else blindly should not act surprised when they get shafted.

from someone in the uk no they dont its all games to them like your president, like token in southpark hes there to see what buttons theyre pushing he was no better than any of the other (albeit poor) options. is it a front where hell be proved a great liar and they want that put in the public mind that all people of colour are the same ? i dont know but it seems a sham and all they are is puppets so why not mix it up a bit

Originally posted by saltheart foamfollower
The scariest words in the English Language.

I am from the government and I am here to help.

Originally posted by saltheart foamfollower
The scariest words in the English Language.

I am from the government and I am here to help.

As far as I'm concerned the Republicans and Democrats are one in the same. I blame you both for the situation we are in. Have we even won a war since WW2? Not to mention the war on drugs, terrorism, and nuclear weapons.Epic Fail

Amen brother Beavis ! Amen!!! We just have to hope when the # Hits the fan we are in Gods hands and he looks after us.

A month ago I was also very sceptical about this issue as well. I have seen some positive moves in the past couple of weeks. It is important that we all remain vigilant and not afraid to voice our concerns.

Our best interests at heart ?
Uhmmm... let me think a bit...
No.

Originally posted by zbeliever
Amen brother Beavis ! Amen!!! We just have to hope when the # Hits the fan we are in Gods hands and he looks after us.

Lol if you are relying on a fictional character to save you when the SHTF, you wont last too long.

Prepare to take care of yourself.

""""Does anybody still believe that our government has our best interests in mind?""""


Our military was set up so we had high ranking enlisted people to keep the young un-intelligent new officers at bay.

Due to budget cuts your Government has removed those checks and balances and now those young inexperienced military officers have free roam to do what they want. There is no old man to remind them there's a book that needs to be followed in their decisions.

That's why you've seen all those Naval Ships and Sub's get commanding officers relieved the past year or two. That's why you see the US Air Force publicly declaring they've failed nuclear surety inspections and lost control of nuclear weapons.

They are screaming for help. You Government made it so we can't afford people. We used to have lots of experienced people as checks and balances keeping us safe.

Those checks and balances are now gone, not only in DOD but all over the Federal Government.

It's going to get much, much worse. ""Our best interest"" has been declared by President Bush to not tell you if the radiation is too high where you live. It would hurt the economy....so we need you to keep living and buying where you are....even if it kills you.

reply to post by Pervius


I only trust myself and my kids....

trusting the Govt is like asking a hyena to babysit my next meal

reply to post by kwakakev


you have seen positive moves in the past month. I say positive for the republicans not the common person who by the way is not in the rich catagory. Democrats are no better they are cowards with a big fat yellow streak down their backs. government care about us the common people no way

reply to post by prexparte


Well, lets hope the aliens are on our side and not the sexually depraved psyco idiots running the show

reply to post by bluemirage5


we can hope aliens would be on our side. we can hope they see it is the leaders not the common people destroying oiur planet

Originally posted by prexparte
reply to post by bluemirage5

 

we can hope aliens would be on our side. we can hope they see it is the leaders not the common people destroying oiur planet

ack ack ack!