1990osu said:
I think to make any progress in this discussion we have to step back and look at how America is supposed to work.
We talk about the people on welfare and fearing a government that would coldly "kick them to the curb."
But is that really the right mindset?
What if people turned not to the state, but to other people to help them? To me it's much more cynical to think that people are so cold-hearted that they must be forced to be generous through government taxes. It represents a lack of faith in human goodness.
Is government really the one "giving the rich a tax break" or "withholding funding for Planned Parenthood"? Is government the benevolent benefactor who hands out checks, or is it us who gives our money to the government and frankly would like some of it back to do with as we please, as a free people?
Do you trust the goodness of government? Or the goodness and generosity of the human heart?
It's easier to bring an malfunctioning government to book than to cover every angle with volunteers and charity.
Read Dickens.
There was a lot of charity back then and next to no state provision.
If the state does nothing it's a waste of money.
Get rid of it, pay no tax and leave more free money to donate to charity.
If you want a country based on charity have another revolution and get rid of your presidents and senators and replace them with charitable foundations and their boards of trustees.
If you want representative democracy let them organise the state to provide what you want from a state.
People are children.
They want all the toys but they also want to keep their pocket money.
You should let someone above all that control you.
Someone with a broader historical perspective.
Someone with centuries of experience of putting people in their place and shrinking the great and the good to their true stature.