We all hate government, or atleast we all should. All their programs and creations should be abolished. But some things that government has done may be subjectively viewed as better than other things government has done. We all know that everything government do is arbitrary to some extent, but some things actually fit our preferences quite well. I would for example say that some of the stuff the BBC has produced is better government waste than the wars our taxes pay for. So, what is the best thing government has created according to you (what fits your preferences the most)?
I don’t get the point of this thread.
you live in a dangerous town and are regularly robbed.
it is a custom of the muggers to leave calling cards, little toys like you’d find in a happy meal or kinder-egg.
of all the muggers that accosted you and stole your wealth and left you little rinkidinks, which rinkidink did you enjoy the most?
Government rests solely on the initiation of aggression, so nothing. It’s OK Arvin, I had a momentary pang of statist sympathy the other day when I realized I need to take a trip to the national archives to find an unpublished book.
I do know the best thing government should have created though.
This is gold. There needs to be a Bastiat-style petition for this. That way, whenever someone brings up “But without the government we wouldn’t have gone to the Moon/had the TVA/etc.”, I can say that that’s a Dragon Fallacy.
I’ll quote Doctor Robert Higgs: “Death and taxes, we’re told, are two unavoidable things. And we’re in a recession now, times are hard and we are all looking for a bargain. So, I thought I could offer you two for one. What a deal! I’ll give you death and taxes all rolled into one. Which is to say, war. War is my subject. You not only get death and taxes together, but you get both of them in extraordinary amounts. So, such a deal! It’s no wonder people keep going back for more, time and again.”
War is what the State does best. Of course, to the detriment of everybody but those who form part of the higher orders of the apparatus (because, soldiers are part of the apparatus, but they surely don’t benefit when they are killed or have limbs blown off).
The right to chicken done right.
Everything else is moot.
Certian nations have, on the most part, allowed for a fairly safe environment for the division of labor to take place. This is why western nations are usually more prosperous than other places in the world… However everything else would have been better spent on dragons…
Besides the army, the only thing the government created has been the post office.
Anti-government sentiment
Yes, exactly. What is the best trinket you got from these barbarians?
I agree with this, and I also find it funny how the state subtly criticizes itself everytime it teaches economics or politics but it ultimately stays away from the logical conclusion of anarchy because they just know it cannot be true.
Laughter. Dubbay alone has brought momentary joy to the entire country.
Roads, schools, libraries, dams, bridges, public housing, etc…
Roads, schools, libraries, dams, bridges, public housing, etc…
Gov’t didn’t provide this. Men driving tractors did, with wealth confiscated by gov’t from the private sector. Gov’t only took capital from the economy and dictated that it be used toward something they felt was necessary and in compliance with their zoning laws, etc.. If those things were in demand by the private sector and if gov’t didn’t hold a monopoly on such things then the private sector would have provided these things.
Best thing gov’t has done: Cut spending after WWII.
I dunno, I like libraries a whole lot. Though its still unethical and I disapprove of it.
Where I live, city libraries are worthless.
What is the best thing the government has created?
The Declaration of Independence. [Y]
A colleague of mine today said the INTERNET was an example of a government creation that revolutionized our lives for the better. I get this government created the internet stuff a lot.. Any attempt to debunk this myth in a one or two liner always comes out as some desperate attempt to excuse government success.
Anyone familiar with a good article (perhaps here) that debunks this myth.
This one billion dollar annually funded rinkidink:
Every time a bimbo like Sarah Palin blabbers words like “private enterprise” and “free markets” I feel like a complete defeat for free markets in the intellectual debate of ideas.
The Socialists themselves could not have come up with a more effective strategy for discrediting the free enterprise system. Let an intellectually challenged circus clown like Palin advocate and “explain” the side for free markets.