If the government doesn’t provide it, just who is going to?
Charities, family, friends, well meaning strangers… The desire to help others does not exist because of government. There might be more or less resources devoted to charity in the absence of government intervention, I haven’t seen much evidence either way. Libertarians commonly argue that private charity is more effective than government welfare and that it makes for a healthier society. A typical example of this case is here—the first such argument I found on google. Now you can certainly dispute these claims but you talk as if you are not even aware that such alternative arguments exist.
It’s not a matter of loyalty, but of having the knowledge and resources to work with to make something possible. I would certainly like to see such a level of care provided to everyone worldwide, but knowing what little I know about average wealth worldwide, this seems an unrealistic goal for the immediate future. It seems entirely realistic for the US, however.
You appear to be shifting the goalposts. You started out arguing that your main concern is to minimize suffering:
First, I’m inclined to think that suffering should be weighted more heavily than benefit. More specifically: it’s more important to make sure nobody falls below a certain universal level of comfort than it is to allow people who are already at that level (or higher) to do better.
Now you are saying that because that is an unrealistic goal you instead think it is important to make people who are already relatively well off by global standards (poor Americans) better off than it is to minimize suffering of the global poor. If your goal is really to minimize human suffering I don’t see how you can argue that guaranteeing housing and healthcare for Americans is a more effective approach than anti-malarial medications, vaccines or antibiotics for African children.
My understanding is that if you look at the correlation between social welfare and overall wealth, it is positive—not negative, as you seem to imply. However, we do need some numbers for this so we’re not arguing subjective impressions.
Subtly different question. It is true that many wealthy countries also have relatively generous welfare systems (particularly in Europe) but they have been able to afford these systems because they were already relatively wealthy. Studies that find negative effects are generally looking at relative growth rates but the difficulty of properly controlling such studies makes them somewhat inconclusive.
I think this is exactly what we should be doing, until we have a sufficient sampling of studies that it might actually average out to something approaching reality.
I’ve been down this road before in discussions of this nature and they usually degenerate into people throwing links to studies back and forth that neither side really has taken the time to read in detail. The discussion usually just derails into arguing about why this or that study is not adequately controlled. I think it is fair to say that existing studies are rarely definitive enough to overcome pre-existing ideological biases.
I’m aware of the broad outlines of the theory and some of the particulars, but I’m not aware of how it supports your conclusions.
The two main points to note are that governments in reality are not in the business of implementing ‘enlightened’ policies that address imbalances of power but rather are in the business of creating imbalances of power for the benefit of special interests and the politicians they own and that many government regulations sold as protecting the interests of the general electorate are in actual fact designed to protect particular special interest groups.
Genuine deregulation has a good track record. It should not be confused with false deregulation like that seen in the financial industry which is really just ‘re-regulation’: adjusting an existing distorted playing field to favour the incumbents even more heavily.
[woozle] If the government doesn’t provide it, just who is going to?
[mattnewport] Charities, family, friends, well meaning strangers…
So, why aren’t they? How can we make this happen—what process are you proposing by which we can achieve universal welfare supported entirely by such means?
You appear to be shifting the goalposts. You started out arguing that your main concern is to minimize suffering...
I didn’t state the scope; you just assumed it was global. My goal remains as stated—minimizing suffering—but I am not arguing for any global changes (yet).
Now you are saying that because that is an unrealistic goal you instead think it is important to make people who are already relatively well off by global standards (poor Americans) better off than it is to minimize suffering of the global poor.
Umm… no, I said no such thing. My suggestion does not have any clear effects on the rest of the world. If anything, it would allow Americans to be more charitable to the world at large, as we would not have to be worrying about taking care of our own first.
I am not proposing taking away any existing American aid to other countries. I’m arguing we are wealthy enough to provide for ourselves solely through reallocation of resources internally, not by diverting them away from external causes (or worse, by stealing resources from other countries as we have a long history of doing; indeed, if it turns out that we cannot achieve universal welfare without robbing others, then I would say that we need to stop robbing others first, then re-assess the situation).
It is true that many wealthy countries also have relatively generous welfare systems (particularly in Europe) but they have been able to afford these systems because they were already relatively wealthy. Studies that find negative effects are generally looking at relative growth rates but the difficulty of properly controlling such studies makes them somewhat inconclusive.
Then I would say that your claim that welfare hurts a country’s overall wealth is based on weak data. What is the basis for your belief in this theory, since the studies which might resolve that question have returned inconclusive results?
I’ve been down this road before in discussions of this nature and they usually degenerate into people throwing links to studies back and forth that neither side really has taken the time to read in detail.
If nobody has time to at least compile the results, then there’s really no point in even having the discussion—since looking at existing data is really the only rational way to attempt to resolve the question.
If you actually have some links, I will at least file them on Issuepedia and give you a link to the page where they—and any other related information which may have been gathered (or may be gathered in the future) -- can be found.
I will also try to summarize any further debating we do on the subject, so that neither of us will need to rehash the same ground in future debates (with each other or with other people).
I hope that this addresses your apparent concern (i.e. that exchanging actual data on this topic would be a waste of time).
The two main points to note are that governments in reality are not in the business of implementing ‘enlightened’ policies that address imbalances of power but rather are in the business of creating imbalances of power for the benefit of special interests and the politicians they own and that many government regulations sold as protecting the interests of the general electorate are in actual fact designed to protect particular special interest groups.
That is the reason I think we need to re-invent government. I don’t think government is automatically evil, though it is certainly vulnerable to just the sorts of mechanisms you identify.
This is certainly not the purpose for which government was invented, and saying that government is the problem just because it becomes a problem is like saying guns are always evil because they kill people—or dynamite is always evil because it is used in warfare. Any tool can be misused.
I propose that government is necessary, and that rather than declaring it evil and trying to render it as small and weak as possible, we should be learning how to build it better—and how to regain control of it when it goes astray.
Genuine deregulation has a good track record. It should not be confused with false deregulation...
Can you give me some examples (mainly of genuine deregulation—I got the financial industry non-deregulation; will have to ponder that example)?
Can you give me some examples (mainly of genuine deregulation—I got the financial industry non-deregulation; will have to ponder that example)?
I don’t have time to reply to your whole post right now (I’ll try to give a fuller response later) but telecom deregulation is the first example that springs to mind of (imperfect but) largely successful deregulation.
Amen to that… I remember when it was illegal to connect your own equipment to Phone Company wires, and telephones were hard-wired by Phone Company technicians.
The obvious flaw in the current situation, of course, is the regional monopolies—slowly being undercut by competition from VoIP, but still: as it is, if I want wired phone service in this area, I have to deal with Verizon, and Verizon is evil.
This suggests to me that a little more regulation might be helpful—but you seem to be suggesting that the lack of competition in the local phone market is actually due to some vestiges of government regulation of the industry—or am I misunderstanding?
(No rush; I shouldn’t be spending so much time on this either… but I think it’s important to pursue these lines of thought to some kind of conclusion.)
A little follow-up… it looks like the major deregulatory change was the Telecommunications Act of 1996; the “freeing of the phone jack” took place in the early 1980s or late 1970s, and modular connectors (RJ11) were widespread by 1985, so either that was a result of earlier, less sweeping deregulation or else it was simply an industry response to advances in technology.
This suggests to me that a little more regulation might be helpful—but you seem to be suggesting that the lack of competition in the local phone market is actually due to some vestiges of government regulation of the industry—or am I misunderstanding?
An example of the type of special-interest driven regulation presented as consumer protection that I’m talking about is the established phone companies trying to use the E911 regulations to hamper VOIP companies that threaten their monopolies. This type of regulatory capture is very common.
Charities, family, friends, well meaning strangers… The desire to help others does not exist because of government. There might be more or less resources devoted to charity in the absence of government intervention, I haven’t seen much evidence either way. Libertarians commonly argue that private charity is more effective than government welfare and that it makes for a healthier society. A typical example of this case is here—the first such argument I found on google. Now you can certainly dispute these claims but you talk as if you are not even aware that such alternative arguments exist.
You appear to be shifting the goalposts. You started out arguing that your main concern is to minimize suffering:
Now you are saying that because that is an unrealistic goal you instead think it is important to make people who are already relatively well off by global standards (poor Americans) better off than it is to minimize suffering of the global poor. If your goal is really to minimize human suffering I don’t see how you can argue that guaranteeing housing and healthcare for Americans is a more effective approach than anti-malarial medications, vaccines or antibiotics for African children.
Subtly different question. It is true that many wealthy countries also have relatively generous welfare systems (particularly in Europe) but they have been able to afford these systems because they were already relatively wealthy. Studies that find negative effects are generally looking at relative growth rates but the difficulty of properly controlling such studies makes them somewhat inconclusive.
I’ve been down this road before in discussions of this nature and they usually degenerate into people throwing links to studies back and forth that neither side really has taken the time to read in detail. The discussion usually just derails into arguing about why this or that study is not adequately controlled. I think it is fair to say that existing studies are rarely definitive enough to overcome pre-existing ideological biases.
The two main points to note are that governments in reality are not in the business of implementing ‘enlightened’ policies that address imbalances of power but rather are in the business of creating imbalances of power for the benefit of special interests and the politicians they own and that many government regulations sold as protecting the interests of the general electorate are in actual fact designed to protect particular special interest groups.
Genuine deregulation has a good track record. It should not be confused with false deregulation like that seen in the financial industry which is really just ‘re-regulation’: adjusting an existing distorted playing field to favour the incumbents even more heavily.
So, why aren’t they? How can we make this happen—what process are you proposing by which we can achieve universal welfare supported entirely by such means?
I didn’t state the scope; you just assumed it was global. My goal remains as stated—minimizing suffering—but I am not arguing for any global changes (yet).
Umm… no, I said no such thing. My suggestion does not have any clear effects on the rest of the world. If anything, it would allow Americans to be more charitable to the world at large, as we would not have to be worrying about taking care of our own first.
I am not proposing taking away any existing American aid to other countries. I’m arguing we are wealthy enough to provide for ourselves solely through reallocation of resources internally, not by diverting them away from external causes (or worse, by stealing resources from other countries as we have a long history of doing; indeed, if it turns out that we cannot achieve universal welfare without robbing others, then I would say that we need to stop robbing others first, then re-assess the situation).
Then I would say that your claim that welfare hurts a country’s overall wealth is based on weak data. What is the basis for your belief in this theory, since the studies which might resolve that question have returned inconclusive results?
If nobody has time to at least compile the results, then there’s really no point in even having the discussion—since looking at existing data is really the only rational way to attempt to resolve the question.
If you actually have some links, I will at least file them on Issuepedia and give you a link to the page where they—and any other related information which may have been gathered (or may be gathered in the future) -- can be found.
I will also try to summarize any further debating we do on the subject, so that neither of us will need to rehash the same ground in future debates (with each other or with other people).
I hope that this addresses your apparent concern (i.e. that exchanging actual data on this topic would be a waste of time).
That is the reason I think we need to re-invent government. I don’t think government is automatically evil, though it is certainly vulnerable to just the sorts of mechanisms you identify.
This is certainly not the purpose for which government was invented, and saying that government is the problem just because it becomes a problem is like saying guns are always evil because they kill people—or dynamite is always evil because it is used in warfare. Any tool can be misused.
I propose that government is necessary, and that rather than declaring it evil and trying to render it as small and weak as possible, we should be learning how to build it better—and how to regain control of it when it goes astray.
Can you give me some examples (mainly of genuine deregulation—I got the financial industry non-deregulation; will have to ponder that example)?
I don’t have time to reply to your whole post right now (I’ll try to give a fuller response later) but telecom deregulation is the first example that springs to mind of (imperfect but) largely successful deregulation.
Amen to that… I remember when it was illegal to connect your own equipment to Phone Company wires, and telephones were hard-wired by Phone Company technicians.
The obvious flaw in the current situation, of course, is the regional monopolies—slowly being undercut by competition from VoIP, but still: as it is, if I want wired phone service in this area, I have to deal with Verizon, and Verizon is evil.
This suggests to me that a little more regulation might be helpful—but you seem to be suggesting that the lack of competition in the local phone market is actually due to some vestiges of government regulation of the industry—or am I misunderstanding?
(No rush; I shouldn’t be spending so much time on this either… but I think it’s important to pursue these lines of thought to some kind of conclusion.)
A little follow-up… it looks like the major deregulatory change was the Telecommunications Act of 1996; the “freeing of the phone jack” took place in the early 1980s or late 1970s, and modular connectors (RJ11) were widespread by 1985, so either that was a result of earlier, less sweeping deregulation or else it was simply an industry response to advances in technology.
An example of the type of special-interest driven regulation presented as consumer protection that I’m talking about is the established phone companies trying to use the E911 regulations to hamper VOIP companies that threaten their monopolies. This type of regulatory capture is very common.