Response to discussion board : “The question you should answer is: do you think government is too big, too small, or just the right size? (Any attempt to evade this question should be interpreted as "just the right size.")”

Big Government vs. Small Government misses the point, few things in life are that simple. There is no net quantity of government that can be added and subtracted to create some perfect proportion, government is tied into many different things and its role must be balanced across a complicated spectrum of issues. This is a whole can of worms that I’m not sure I want to get into but here goes.

Government is accountable to the people, corporations and private individuals are not, especially those with an excess of power and money. If you reduce the role of government in a particular area, that which governs your life will be shifted to private for profit interests, as opposed to our public representatives. This is good in some cases and not in others.

If this were a black and white issue where one could choose to have their life governed by either A) publicly accountable government officials or B) unaccountable private interests - who in their right mind would choose to simply trust whoever happened to be born into power to be the best decision maker? If government began to just get smaller, the power to direct society would be quickly concentrated in the hands of a few superrich individuals who’s position in society is insurmountable.

Anyone who is thinking that this is an attempt to evade the question is truly stubborn and hasn’t actually comprehended a word I have said so far.

Government’s role is to make life as enjoyable as possible for everyone in society, it is a noble purpose and if it is not being done there needs to be a change, but simply kicking it out of the drivers seat is not a solution.

Governmental policies should be directed toward helping entrepreneurs, small businesses, and the middle class, this is where that lovely free-market competition really occurs. Bailing out large corporations is a waste, if they fail it is their own fault and a better alternative will take their place. Also those corporations should be prevented from getting excessively powerful and therefore being able to threaten the independence of individuals in society (what is ‘excessively powerful’ will be forever debated and revised, of course).

On the other hand the barriers to starting and maintaining a business such as taxes and red tape should be as low as possible. People want to chart their own course in the world and they want to be able to build something they can be proud of, in this way entrepreneurs and small businesses are very important in regards to making life enjoyable.

I think the knee jerk reaction against government is due to the fact that we’ve seen it perform badly. Again changes must be made and it is our government and our responsibility to change it.
My final thought is that, perhaps government has preformed badly because it has surrendered its power to private for profit interests. Perhaps government is unable to do a good job because it is now influenced by those interests that we expect it to hold back. I say change the structure to get the influence of money away from government. It should be an environment where the interests of citizens are the first priority, not the interest of politicians or parties.

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This week there are a few important votes happening in congress, the Senate will vote on the Bankruptcy Bill, approving $83 Billion for the Iraq War (on top of $300 billion already spent), and the appointment of John Bolton as ambassador to the UN. My letter is below.

I am writing to express my concern about a few upcoming votes, these are the John Bolton nomination to the UN, the Bankruptcy Bill, and the 83 Billion for Iraq Occupation. I urge you to vote no on all of these.
First the Bankruptcy Bill. My mother is 52, after renting apartments her whole life, raising me alone and completing her bachelors degree at 29 she is finally at a point where she can consider buying a house. However she has an outstanding medical debt from a period where she was uninsured, due to this debt she is filing for bankruptcy. Should she have a more difficult time affording a home? Doesn’t it make our society better when people own and take care of their property? The red tape she has had to struggle through this far has been quite enough, I cannot justify adding to the burden. Why don’t we spend our effort drafting policy that will enable all Americans to have permanent healthcare, instead of punishing individuals for a failed system?
In addition to that I know that credit card companies were behind the drafting of this bill and lobbied hard to get congress members to support it. I have no sympathy for these bottom feeders, they should alter their business practices rather than pressuring the government to take care of their problems for them. I do not want my representatives to stand up for a few moneyed interests at the expense of the greater public whom they are supposed to represent. I receive between 5 and 15 credit card advertisements per week, it would seem that their business practices are the problem, not the bankruptcy laws.
The second issue is the money for Iraq. The $300 billion that has gone to Iraq thus far has not been spent wisely and I do not trust those in power to do any better with the latest $83 billion. I am sick and tired of hearing about Halliburton charging $27.5 million to deliver $82,100 worth of propane, $108 loads of laundry and other overcharges from the likes of war profiteers. Do not approve this money, it is a statement that says that irresponsible spending has to stop. I do not expect the US to pack its bags and leave, but the department of defense should realize that it does not have a blank check for this war. After all it is congress that has the power to declare war.
Lastly John Bolton should not be approved. His appointment would be a step in the wrong direction. We should be working to improve relations with our neighbors, and appointing another belligerent spokesperson is not the way to do this. How can we expect countries to make the war in Iraq an international concern when we consistently turn an unsympathetic eye toward their interests?
Thank you for your time. Please make sure that each of my concerns are noted. I hope that I can count on your support regarding these issues.


Sincerely,
David Coffee

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I recently found a web-ring of Buffalo Blogs, only a few are really interesting to me but nonetheless through browsing them I’ve realized that I prefer online communities that have something to do with my actual community. I like the feeling of meeting people in my city that share many of my experiences and live in similar circumstances. In a large community like MySpace there is the potential for meeting many different people and participating in a variety of activities, but the members are such a mystery, you know very little about them and you will probably never see them in real life.
It also takes so much effort to browse through such a huge community and feel like you understand the norms, and then it takes even longer to find people that share something in common with you. And after that is it even possible to have a decent relationship with someone in southern California that only exists online where one can show as much or as little of their true self as they please? That type of quest really doesn’t inspire me to participate.
I had previously enjoyed participating in the forums of the now inactive Fredonia Underground and thought I could get a similar experience from any other forum, like that of MySpace, but this has not proved true. The MySpace forum is huge, it is difficult to find an interesting topic and it is even harder to keep up with the conversation. It seems to take some serious dedication (and a lack of other responsibilities) to actually participate in the forums of such a large community. There may be 30 posts per hour on just one thread, by the time you finish composing any sort of meaningful message there will probably already be 3 new posts. Leading to a sincere lack of meaningful posts, and creating a situation that takes a lot of effort to keep up with.
I can see how my preferences in actual community activities have translated to virtual communities. I am not the kind of person who enjoys going to big wild parties or bars where one is largely anonymous, I would much rather get together with a lot of my friends and a few new people. I will definitely attend larger gatherings, and I might go alone without knowing anybody, but there is some unique shared interest like a band or political speaker. These types of gatherings have an interesting focus, and the community norms are mostly familiar. It is the same online, if I participate in a large online community the focus will be obvious and the culture known to me. And small online communities of friends with shared histories and circumstances are very easy for me to participate in. If anyone else is curious about the Buffalo Blog/website ring I’ve found you can start browsing at http://wny4clark.blogspot.com/. And if anyone knows of an interesting local online community please post a comment about it.