Can Government Do Anything Well?

Set Freepers to glib!

freedomfiter2 explains what Freepers think of government as:

Thge government excels at taking money from honest citizens and giving it to well connected donors.

muir_redwoods allows two nice things:

The interstate highway system is pretty damned good. I’ve been in lots of countries and this is about as good as it gets, certainly so for such a large country

The military is the best in the world. It is wasteful but the missions and troop safety trump economics

I’m at a loss for number three.

qaz123 not even the military:

If our current military was under the command of the WW1 or WW2 type of commanders, than I would say that it would definitely be good at waging war. However, due to Clinton and now, Obama’s dismantling of the military and preference given to PC leaders instead of warfighters, its not even that good at that.

Other than that, they suck.

Le Chien Rouge mixes up the government with a dictatorship, and also correlation with causation:

The Government Does many things Well:

1) Create war on individual rights(Nazi Germany)
2) Create Economic chaos(Robert Mugumbe)
3) Create a culture of death(Khmer Rouge)
4) Create generational conflict (Mao’s cultural Revolution)
5) Create Mass emigration( Castro’s Cuba)
6) Create a police state( North Korea)
7) Create famine( Ukraine Famine)
8) Create environmental disaster(Soviet Union)
9) Create religious totalitarianism ( Saudi Arabia)
10) Create racial conflict ( Obama’s USA)

reasonisfaith has this weird idea:

If you begin with the presumption that government action will result in the opposite of its stated aim, then you could say expectations are consistently achieved.

hinckley buzzard thinks the government has no people in it:

Gubbermint does one thing well: It cuts checks. The military is a world class organization at getting the paychecks out. Gubmint built the Interstate Highway System by cutting checks to private sector companies. Damned rare when a welfare, foodstamp or SocSec payment doesn't arrive in your account on time. As for fulfilling Constitutional responsibilities, well, not so much.

Yes, everything the government does, it pays people to do! Horrors!

Liberty Wins blames the administrative agencies for every evil, because pre-World War 2, everything was awesome!

Most of the evils of government are committed by the unelected bureaucracy. Unfortunately, nearly all large organizations have entrenched bureaucracies that are inefficient and use their power unwisely (corporations, foundations, religious groups, etc.).

There is a theory that sociopaths are drawn to these kinds of organizations because it gives them control over other people.

There is a theory that accusing people of stuff using passive voice is kinda weak....

Notwithstanding thinks the church has done everything a government should:

The Church is a great example of this. Sure, for a few centuries in some countries the pope was also the supreme political figure, but the Church has succeeded in addressing human problems over the long haul - and most of the time when she did not enjoy political power.

Hospitals, schools and monasteries are great examples of private actors banding together to solve problems.

Great examples, chief. A heavily regulated industry, a public good, and a socialist collective!