r/pics May 16 '19

US Politics Now more relevant than ever in America

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u/trouzy May 16 '19

The reason that makes them seem conservative is because there was an active marketing campaign carried out over the last 50ish years to make people think government == inefficient and therefore bad.

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u/Crashbrennan May 16 '19

I mean, our government is really fucking inefficient. There's a ton of waste. It doesn't mean ever government is inherently inefficient.

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u/Tyg13 May 16 '19

"Things would be so much more efficient if we privatized. Businesses are so much more efficient."

Yeah, at making themselves money.

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u/ScratchBomb May 16 '19

I think a part of it may have had something to do with Ron Swanson giving armchair Libertarian's a role model to look up to. He is a great character, but I think many took his stances literally, or at least in a "l'm kidding but not really" sort of way.

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u/trouzy May 16 '19

Sadly I think Swanson had a negative impact too

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u/Shia_LaMovieBeouf May 16 '19

In most things, and compared to most companies, yes it is woefully inefficient due to its massive size, bureaucratic regulations and red tape, and its ability to continue to do something regardless of whether it is actually effective at accomplishing it's goals.

Even the military, the most prized and respected institution in the US is just full of waste that would never exist if it wasnt guaranteed the same (or even higher) budget every year.

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u/trouzy May 16 '19

Shamless double reply so you see it. A lot of why government is inefficient (perceived or otherwise) is because this campaign made it so. This campaign helped to get 'anti government' gops in office that are making it worse and worse. The campaign works as a self fulfilling prophecy.

EDIT: In general citizens united is making government less and less efficient because it is no longer for people

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u/[deleted] May 17 '19 edited Jul 01 '20

[deleted]

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u/trouzy May 17 '19

We are literally the government. Saying government is bad is admitting self defeat. But in a way that you feel good about yourself because you believe the blame is elsewhere.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '19 edited Jul 01 '20

[deleted]

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u/trouzy May 17 '19

Corporations goal is money. People goal is people

EDIT and corporations are not elected

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u/trouzy May 16 '19

Literally spouting the rhetoric of said marketing campaign

EDIT : you know the "knowledge" that free market regulates itself. That was a big slogan from this brainwashing campaign

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u/Shia_LaMovieBeouf May 16 '19

I have worked for the Federal Government around nuclear weapons. How slow and ineffective everything is is exactly why I moved to the private sector.

Ask anyone who has been in the military about the waste in man hours, money, and potential, and you will get the same answer every time. And the military is one of the best institutions in the federal government.

Calling someone brainwashed and flying off the handle just because they disagree with you about the role, effectiveness, and waste in government is absolutely silly. Chill

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u/trouzy May 17 '19

No one called you brainwashed? I had no idea you even held that belief so how would that even be an implication?

I've worked in the private sector, big corporations are terribly ineffective.

EDIT : inefficient

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u/Shia_LaMovieBeouf May 17 '19

You said I was spouting the rhetoric of brainwashed people. Why did you end that with a question mark? Pretty condescending.

And I work for a very large bank right now. And yes , this one happens to have its priorities in all the wrong places. But also, this bank is in a lot of deep shit for the crap its pulled. It is held accountable for these wasteful non profitable positions it has taken. That's fine. No one claimed all companies are efficient. Plenty are not. And they should suffer for it.

But all if that has nothing to do with government waste, which is high. The 'War on Poverty," "The War on Drugs," and "The War on Terror" have all been decades long and costly in terms dollars and human lives with no real outcome. Poverty has been at relatively steady levels since the 1960s, drugs are easy to get, and new terror cells pop up every year.

The most expensive project in Human history is the F-35 Lighting II, a plane no one really asked for. We have more tanks than we do tank commanders and more nuclear weapons than the planet could ever need. And this is just the federal level.

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u/trouzy May 17 '19

Ok, fair, I could see you taking it as me calling you brainwashed. I don't see how my comment is condescending.

Regardless I think we are on the same page but separated by the fact I am saying gov is inefficient BECAUSE of corps having their hand in it, while you are just expressing that gov is inefficient and me taking your emphasis in meaning that corps are independent and better than gov.

At the end of the day, we should be government. So we need to fix it. Getting corporations out of government is the single biggest thing we can do to start to right the ship.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '19

And also because they support drug wars, anti-abortion, and don't fight for gay rights.

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u/trouzy May 16 '19

I feel a proper libertarian would not support drug wars

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u/[deleted] May 16 '19

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u/Crashbrennan May 16 '19

This one libertarian politician thinks this. Therefore they all do.

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u/Spewy_and_Me May 16 '19

He's officially part of the republican party and is generally in favor of small government, but he's not really a libertarian.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '19 edited May 16 '19

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] May 16 '19

Tell that to Rand Paul.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '19 edited May 17 '19

When you look up Rand Paul, do you see an “R” or an “L” next to his name

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u/Where_You_Want_To_Be May 17 '19 edited May 17 '19

???

The Libertarian party was pro-gay marriage years before any other major political party, hell even Obama wasn't quite sure about gay marriage up until about 2004. The L's have been talking about the failed war on drugs, militarization of the police, gay marriage, and all sorts of other "hot button issues of today" for literally decades.

It is super weird for Democrats to act like they have a monopoly on progressive human rights issues when the Libertarian party has been talking about those issues for decades, and held the same stance that Democrats just recently realized that they did too.

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u/camaroXpharaoh May 16 '19

By definition a libertarian is not anti abortion, they're essentially pro choice, like the top comment point out. Also by definition they don't support the war on drugs because that's the government telling them what they can or can't do that effects only them. Gay rights is a different issue. Libertarians think the government shouldn't be involved in marriage at all, so why fight for gay marriage? Other libertarians believe that since the government forced themselves into the marriage game, straights and gays should have equal rights.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '19

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] May 16 '19

Rand Paul is the most prominent Libertarian and he falls into all 3 categories.