Is there any reason to think that the government is a good problem solver?

no to the question.
as to your comment included with it, i can’t make any sense of it.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

We’re in a nation that has survived 200+ years and countless problems…. So I’d say it works just fine.

The biggest problem with a Democratic government however, is bureaucracy… it’s a requirement that comes with giving the people the power… there’s a lot of people and they all have opinions.

But the sheer fact that our government has lasted as long as it has (and some governments even longer).. i’d say is a pretty clear pointer that it does work.

I just wonder, what would be a viable alternative? Sure, democratic governments have problems that needs to be addressed. What is the solution to your perceived problem?

@oratio Agreed…. for the moment at least it’s the best thing we’ve got.

@westy81585 I think that we have been solving the problems that the government has been making from the beginning. When we loose the power to act then the problems grow. Are we involved in only 7 wars right now or are there many I have missed?

@walterallenhaxton 7???? ..... I count 2….

And in fairness one of those was because of a corrupt administration.

And the question of, whats the alternative, remains. Having a government is the best thing we’ve got…. and democracy is the best type we yet know of.

@westy81585 The founding fathers hated democracy. That is why they gave us contract government. That was effectively thrown out at the second constitutional convention. Our current constitution allowed us to become a democracy with all of the problems that go with it.

@walterallenhaxton…. The founding fathers hated democracy? ............................ And I’m done with this debate. ..... Go read a history book.

@westy81585 If they loved democracy then why did they insist on a bill of rights. Something that had to be over come to make a democracy work. It has taken a long time to form the USA democracy and the bill of rights still has some life left in it. Not much granted you.

problem: poor people. solution: welfare system.
problem: crime. solution: police system.
problem: people want justice. solution: court system
problem: corporations exploit workers, destroy the environment, etc. solution: impose regulations on them
problem: traffic is congesting cities, the exhausts make the air toxic. solution: invest in a top notch public transport system.
problem: car industry in a crisis. (partial) solution: help sales by giving people money when they scrap an old car and buy a new one.
problem: people are about to lose their savings because banks in other countries go bankrupt. solution: the state guarantees for the savings.

the gov. seems to be a passable problem solver to me.

No. Government creates problems, then “fixes” them in the public eye to seem like miracle workers so that it’s people feel like they’re being taken care of.

“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

The Government does not have “salesmen” in charge, that’s nonsense, and the Politicians in most countries’ governments are lawyers more often than not.

No government has a perfect, or even good history of solving all problems for all people. Politics attracts more ambitious men than idealistic men. One reason that Government is less effective that the private sector is that in the private sector all players need to be tertiary qualified and experienced before they reach any significant management level, whereas in politics people are voted into office and often appointed to portfolios that they have no qualification for or understanding of. They have to rely on their public service staff for guidance.

Until there is a more realistic approach to qualification for for political office we will never have effective government.

People are problem solvers. The governments’ job is to create visions and offer leadership.

Based on past history,goverments(IN MY OPINION)have created more problems than solved.I may be wrong as I have been wrong before and no doubt will be wrong in the future.As many goverments are!

@DarkScribe Politicians that are busy reading law books and writing briefs and defending people in court never get elected to anything. If you are not a better salesman than your opponent then you are not elected to office and control nothing. Politicians one and all have the profession of salesman first in the list of what they are and whatever other credentials they have come second.
The reason that government is not effective like the private sector is that nobody in government is paid to be effective. It is not their job. I will grant you one exception. Though it took way to long those head shots were effective. I think radar could have been used. I am not certain but wouldn’t it heat a person up until he passes out. They had two warships to use it from. It works rather well in my microwave oven.

@mattbrowne Governments define their own jobs. They do what they please.

@walterallenhaxton – It’s people who elect governments. And it’s people who remove them from power. At least in functioning democracies.

@mattbrowne Not in the USA. We elect nobody. They prearrange it all. You of great faith who believes that McCain was actually trying to win. If they get it wrong some one of the politicians will vote with the other side and receive a payoff.

@walterallenhaxton

You really don’t know much about Government – do you?

@walterallenhaxton – I heard that Zimbabwe grants political asylum to American refugees. The US is so messed up, Walter, it’s time to leave for the wonderfully functioning African country and his honest leader called Robert Mugabe.

Shall we bet how long it will take you to want to come back? Come on, no country is perfect. But the systems like in the US or in Europe is the best we got.

@walterallenhaxton It may seem that way to you,but if you see the alternatives,such as dictatorship and organizations like the Taliban,you would realize that at least we have some reprsantation through senators and representatives as apposed to non at all.As faulty as our Democracy may be you should thank God you do not live in China,North Korea,Iran and all those other countries that really do not care what you think.McCain lost because not enough people believed in his views.McCain was hurt by the Bush administration’s lack of confidence of the people(USA)People became tired of standard procedure and President Obama has offered a change in our policies and outlook on our involvements and relations with the rest of the world.Which is why he was victorious,not because it was somehow staged.Please try not to be so negative about our system because you would be less pleased about the alternatives.

So, maybe our democracy isn’t functioning? Oh, wait… we don’t live in a democracy. We’re in a democratic republic. And I don’t believe our only alternatives are dictatorships. The weakest (and most frequent) argument I hear when I’m debating whether or not our government is doing us good is “Well, it could be worse; we could be like North Korea.” It’s like, either keep your mouth shut about the US government, or go see how you like it in a fascist dictatorship. Wtf sense does that make? Why should we settle for anything?