[Sal4liberty]

So another thread got me thinking, and I did not want to side track it.

I find it interesting that government is becoming more incompetent the bigger it gets.

Our State and federal governments are bigger and spending more money then ever in the history of our country.

Their ability to handle even small weather events seems to be getting much worse, let alone large events like hurricane Sandy and Katrina.

It seems like fema just gets more bureaucratic and worthless with each passing day, let alone TSA and border patrol and ICE.

Which leads one to wonder ..... Is it all by design ?

Everything government touches gets worse, education, housing, healthcare, the infrastructure of our country is getting worse not better.

We can not even send people to space anymore.

So is it a general side effect of bloat, or is it by design ?

 

[3jacks]

The Federal Government entities can not manage "real" things: healthcare, education et al because they are politically driven, they have no natural incentive to act with efficiency, improve service, lower cost. Basically they have no competition which is the natural means by which organizations provide good quality, lower cost, better service.

Local governments are more accountable to the people (or should be because of proximity). Fed Gov is hardly accountable anymore (see Hillary as a good example) and therefore grows with each passing day and becomes more bloated, inept and inefficient as a result.

 

[PaulKersey]

Govt has gone far beyond it assigned roll of patching the pot holes and protecting us from war. The servant the has become the master. Government truly needs to be dragged into the bathroom and drowned in the bathtub!

 

[Alaskajohn]

I've been retired from the army for 10 years, but in my time in the military I became convinced that the federal government is incompetent beyond repair. It's incompetent for a host of reasons including inherent problems with bloated bureaucracy, political interference, and self perpetuation.

Local government can be more accountable, but in my experience some of the above exists in local government as well.

This is one of the reasons why I laugh at all the conspiracy theorist who project some matrix-like super intelligence towards an all knowing and controlling government. It ain't happening.

 

[InfScout]

The feds operate on the "illusion" of being capable of taking care of us. That has caused a whole generation to depend on them. It's a paper tiger and in fact the feds are not equipped to provide the help they say they can.

It's an impossible task and is recognized by many of us that post here. It's the sad but honest truth. But we have so many citizens bowing with open hands all the time ignoring the fact their open hands can't be filled that has us where we are today.

There are more than enough quotes made by rather sage and intelligent people over the last 200+ years in this country alone that point that out. Sadly many ignore those truths.

 

[Sneeky]

Aside from several valid points already brought up, there is the additional factor that any organization that grows much beyond about 150 people in one location starts getting more and more inefficient. This happens even in private companies with the best of intentions and motivations.

Now stop and think how many government units are bigger than 150 people.

 

[InfScout]

Aside from several valid points already brought up, there is the additional factor that any organization that grows much beyond about 150 people in one location starts getting more and more inefficient. This happens even in private companies with the best of intentions and motivations.

Now stop and think how many government units are bigger than 150 people.

That's why local is best. Everyone should be involved in their local government unless you live in a city with millions of people. If you do, you have already lost your voice. People in small rural towns have a lot more say in many aspects of their government.

Except of course those areas that are driven by the massive fed gov that has been inserted into the tampering interference with said local government. Think education as one of the biggest mistakes we ever allowed them control over.

But a small town is still capable of some self rule. The feds hate that.

 

[Exarmyguy]

I think the main problem with most government is all its unelected bureaucrats . They have no accountability . You can at least vote out idiot politicians but not so the hordes of people on the public trough.

 

[juskom95]

This is one of the reasons why I laugh at all the conspiracy theorist who project some matrix-like super intelligence towards an all knowing and controlling government. It ain't happening.

"never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"

My time in the Army convinced that Hanlon's Razor explains the majority of government. One big mess snowballing all over everyone.

 

[Exarmyguy]

I do believe there is a lot of malice and vindictiveness among the "civil" servants. It's not just stupidity although there is plenty of that.

 

[juskom95]

I do believe there is a lot of malice and vindictiveness among the "civil" servants. It's not just stupidity although there is plenty of that.

I don't know about malice, but more of an entitlement or 'YOU OWE ME' type of attitude, at least in my experience. They expect to get raises, promotions etc just for being there and not base on experience. (Recommend that and you would think one talked about eating babies alive)

Not necessarily stupidity either, but complacency. The type of things which would get one fired in the 'real world' but are protected by contracts and Unions in government.

 

[Fillzee]

Government has become too big to succeed. Everything it does pertains to:

1. Creating make-work jobs to reward minorities, political supporters, contributors or some other form of pay-to-play.

2. Hyper focus on the inputs --- stakeholders, contractors, suppliers and government employees rather than the output... their alleged "product" or service.

3. The well being of public sector unions which are actually an arm of the Democratic Party. Unions extort wages and benefits and enjoy a competition free work environment where nobody is held accountable and nothing happens when things go wrong or don't get done... Like the Obamacare roll-out.

4. Choosing winners and losers through things like affirmative action hiring, quotas, taxes and regulations that favor one constituency over another. Much of government today is dedicated to managing "fairness" and redistributing income to reward politically favored parties/people/firms. Thousands of pages of regulations are in place to encourage things that government wants like Ethanol while discouraging things it does not like coal.

5. Justifying why government must be made bigger, must spend all of its allocated resources and more, and must kill millions of trees publishing econometric data, studies, and other useless reports that virtually nobody reads.

In short, government IS crowding out the private sector and creating an environment where everybody either works for the government or depends on it. The only solution, which I hope Trump comes to is to eliminate MOST of the government and then outsource the parts that we actually need to the private sector. Government employees should be a very small number of managers who oversee private contracts and work forces. Public sector unions need to be disbanded. Let me know when you hear a politician say anything like that... cutting government is the third rail of politics. :thumb: