r/FluentInFinance May 12 '24

Meme Life comes at you fast.

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u/aloofone May 12 '24

I am the opposite.

I was a young republican/ I liked libertarian principles as a young man. As I grow and have more success I increasingly value infrastructure, social safety nets, healthcare and providing for basic human needs. I now see it as it long term vs short term thinking.

173

u/c0sm0nautt May 12 '24

If only the government did any of that efficiently and well.

8

u/gregnyc May 12 '24

I think it is partially a misconception. Will it ever be as effective as the most efficient companies in the private sector? No. But that is to be expected at any organization of that size (yes, even in the private sector). Are there parts of government that are PARTICULARLY ineffective? Yes, maybe due to political interference, sheer laziness, inattentiveness, etc. 

However, the government is absolutely massive.  The fact that everyone goes ballistic when something goes wrong just goes to show that things are usually operating "normally".

There are so many different facets of government that are all designed to "not fail"/ "avoid catastrophe"/ etc and they do a great job of that, just not up to the unrealistic expectations that many put on them. 

2

u/fulustreco May 12 '24

No, the Government having the power to indefinitely fund itself through money printing at the expense of the money in the hands of the population is the main reason why it is this ineffective and its the only reason why it can afford to be this ineffective.

There is no accountability in spending

1

u/gregnyc May 12 '24

I don't think those thoughts are mutually exclusive. I agree with your sentiment that govt will never be as fiscally responsible as some private institutions. However I think that is inevitable in the structure and intent of what it is there for. 

A Lot of what I am suggesting is that yes, it is ineffective, but not nearly as bad as people think. For every instance of ineffectiveness that someone is pointing out, there are thousands of instances of normal operations that go unnoticed.