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:: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 ::
Reciprocal Snarky Analogy
Conservatives are from the Kuiper belt as they are way out there and their cold hearts are barely warmed by the heat of the distant Sun (Son?).
I think it may be pertinant at this time to restate what I see is the general, New-Deal liberal outlook.
1)Business and the private sector at large cannot be trusted to self-regulate and operate in the public interest. (See Enron)
2)What regulations business can come up with will be self-interested and likely detrimental to the public good. (See California Energy Utilities)
3)Private, non-governmental institutions are, by themselves, unable to meet the needs of the public in any crisis, sudden or prolonged. (See Hoover, Great Depression)
4)Government, especially the Federal Government, is the only entity with the resources, power, and mandate to actively persue the public good, either by providing public services or regulating other entities, especially the private sector. (See Anti-trust, FDR, New Deal)
5)Because of the immense power that Government wields, it must not only protect the right of individual citizens to oppose it, but also be wholly accountable to the citizens in whose interests it wields power. (See First Amendment, Free and Fair Elections)
6)So as to prevent a tyrrany of the majority, the citizenship of said Government must be well-educated and have free and ample access to information. (First Amendment, FOIA, et. al.)
The last two are new to the list, and I'm sure I'll end up defining more as I keep kicking this around. Part of this list embodies the idea that the current state of affairs can always be better, and that Government is a key tool in making such happen. But, more importantly I think, the overriding idea is that people, by and large, should have a mechanism to either protect themselves from the very worst or to mitigate its effects, and that this mechanism is the Government.
:: The Squire 11:35 PM :: email this post :: ::
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