Funny headline from where I live

[Limehouse]

Defending the country with a strong military, securing the borders, helping the mentally retarded,physically handicapped,mentally ill, the elderly,etc., having some oversight of the private sector, maintaining a fair justice system that is about all I can think of
Jordan

Monitor the private sector - but no public sector departments such as health and education? So, you would place education and health in the hands of the private sector - and then monitor it?

[ChainzCooper]

So, what IS government for then? I mean, why elect anyone at all if you can manage everything yourself? That's not meant to be a sarcastic remark but a genuine attempt at posing the question - what is government for?

Defending the country with a strong military, securing the borders, helping the mentally retarded,physically handicapped,mentally ill, the elderly,etc., having some oversight of the private sector, maintaining a fair justice system that is about all I can think of
Jordan

[Limehouse]

Again I disagree. I don't think its the Government's job to educate people (we have a horrendous public education system that is a failure) or to inform them which issues and life choices they should decide upon. Again, life is about self reliance and carving out your own space on this planet. Education is the single most overrated aspect of life. My Grandfather didn't even attend high school and he lives on this rolling estate in the country,its pretty epic, he made it through hard work and sticking to something
Jordan

So, what IS government for then? I mean, why elect anyone at all if you can manage everything yourself? That's not meant to be a sarcastic remark but a genuine attempt at posing the question - what is government for?

[ChainzCooper]

Agree on almost all points Dave. Government's are responsible for keeping people informed, giving them the means to to stay informed - but it's the individual's responsibility to take descisions for themselves. However, when it comes to breathing other people's smoke, I don't want to - so the legislation banning smoking in public places has provided comfort for my lungs and my eyes!

Again I disagree. I don't think its the Government's job to educate people (we have a horrendous public education system that is a failure) or to inform them which issues and life choices they should decide upon. Again, life is about self reliance and carving out your own space on this planet. Education is the single most overrated aspect of life. My Grandfather didn't even attend high school and he lives on this rolling estate in the country,its pretty epic, he made it through hard work and sticking to something
Jordan

[martin wilson]

So you have just become a CEO of a large corporation, and part of your bonus is in shares.
You announce large scale redundancies, a reduction in labour cost results in an improved profits forecast,share prices go up, you sell yours at a profit,
Luvly jubbly.
It's a society based on fear really, fear of losing your job,your house,worries about your family.
Thats all that maintains the capitalist system,if you won the lottery tomorrow are you going to put up with any s*** from your boss?
Over in the U.K,we have finally achieved the lobbyists wet dream of people working for nothing,plus cuts in the benefits and services available to the disabled.
But like Louisa rightly says,we take any crap they throw at us, because we have become too frightened to speak out.
All the best.

[Limehouse]

ROFLMAO...it never fails to amaze me. People are bitching and moaning about the horror that Obama has done to our economy. So their solution is to hire the head of Bain Capital who single-handedly hatcheted nearly all the jobs of the companies they took over and outsourced the majority of the rest to India.

That's what we need to fix the economy for sure! A man who lines his pockets at the expense of everyone else's job. He's going to solve the unemployment problem for sure.

Lord you've got to love critical thinking skills.

I agree totally. Outsourcing is a big problem here too.

[Limehouse]

Good debate going Limehouse but I disagree. This country was founded on individualism and personal freedom not shared responsibilities (as Obama called it) and Government infringements. You're responsible to become knowledgeable on things its not the Government's job to educate people in any way. I mean why stop with tobacco? The same campus where they have exclaimed about banning tobacco use contains many bars and restaurants with fatty foods, whiskey, and beer. Those products consumed copiously are also bad for you. Down the road with this mentality will we begin banning them next? I think that is the unfortunate trail we are heading towards if this thinking continues
Jordan

I agree that people are responsible for their own actions, but when it comes to smoking, I don't want to breathe in other people's smoke in a bar or restaurant. They have the right to pollute their own lungs - but not mine.

If someone want to consume alcohol and fatty foods - that's up to them - BUT they have a right to information about the health implications of such actions. It is, in my view, the government's job to inform them - either directly or through agents such as health professionals and educators.

In this day and age, I think it would be very difficult to run a country the size of the USA entirely without shared responsibilities.

[Limehouse]

I hear what you say Julie, but don't agree that Government should necessarily be so prescriptive as to legislate in such matters. Much depends on how you see the nature of Government itself...either (to go to extremes) as a dictatorship or as a genuine facilitator or servant of the people...

Unfortunately, because of the relatively tame nature of the party political system, and the backslapping old chums act, what we actually get in the UK tends to be more in the nature of a self-perpetuating oligarchy...regardless of whichever party gets in...and lately that seems to imply the "Nanny state" (because banning things for other people is always a cheap and effective source of sound-bytes).

We are long overdue another 1945 shake-up...though who will accomplish it I really don't know...I suspect, sadly, it won't be in my lifetime anyway!

All the best

Dave

Agree on almost all points Dave. Government's are responsible for keeping people informed, giving them the means to to stay informed - but it's the individual's responsibility to take descisions for themselves. However, when it comes to breathing other people's smoke, I don't want to - so the legislation banning smoking in public places has provided comfort for my lungs and my eyes!

[Cogidubnus]

Hi Ally

I'm lucky in some respects...If I don't like what Obama's doing, I don't have to choose between Mitt Romney and oblivion (no choice - go for oblivion...Romney's an arse )...

But thereagain, living in the UK, I can realistically chose between the old-boys network, the old boys network or the media-savvy minority old boys network...hmmm...

I've voted Liberal all my life (mainly because at local level they've historically been far better at representing everyday people, and at national level they always met my requirements vis a vis minimalist government)...but I now find to my horror that the successor party, in coalition, are becoming control-freaks of the worst sort...

I will probably never vote for them again...but I will make a point of turning up every election and deliberately spoiling my paper...democracy was, after all, too hard won to give up on the very basic right of voting.

All the best

Dave

[ChainzCooper]

It might conceivably be the Government's resonsibility to tell us when things are bad for us. It's not the Government's responsibility to keep on telling us. It's like a man who runs along beside you in the street saying, "I don't think you heard me." Yes, I heard you. Now shut up.

As for fatty foods, don't worry, we'll soon be seeing a "fat tax" over here - purely for our own good, of course.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...-david-cameron

As for the strain on the NHS, I wonder what the NHS would do without all the money raised from duties on cigarettes and alcohol.

And as for the doctors who are always trying to tell me what I should and should not be allowed to do : I would willingly give up smoking if they, the doctors, would consent to being tested for drugs and alcohol every day before they start work.

Oh, and it might get the NHS's costs down if the doctors could refrain from being negligent. I think their negligence is supposed to be costing the NHs at least a billion pounds a year.

Couldn't agree more Robert
Jordan

[Robert]

Ah, the subsidised bars and restaurants. All part of our healthy democracy, Dave.

[Bridewell]

I think the subsidised bars ought to be shut down too...It's bad enough we're employing a bunch of piss-heads without paying for their vices too.

Absolutely, Dave. It won't happen though. Because the decision on whether or not to have subsidised bars in parliament is made by members thereof. Conflict of interests or what?

Regards, Bridewell.

[Ally]

ROFLMAO...it never fails to amaze me. People are bitching and moaning about the horror that Obama has done to our economy. So their solution is to hire the head of Bain Capital who single-handedly hatcheted nearly all the jobs of the companies they took over and outsourced the majority of the rest to India.

That's what we need to fix the economy for sure! A man who lines his pockets at the expense of everyone else's job. He's going to solve the unemployment problem for sure.

Lord you've got to love critical thinking skills.

[Cogidubnus]

And as for the doctors who are always trying to tell me what I should and should not be allowed to do : I would willingly give up smoking if they, the doctors, would consent to being tested for drugs and alcohol every day before they start work.

That Robert, would be fair enough...I work for a large bus company, and because our drivers get randomly checked for these, so do the office staff...and quite right too...so why shouldn't doctors...

But more to the point I think politicians should too...how dare they attempt to legislate whilst potentially under the influence? It's irresponsible. I think the subsidised bars ought to be shut down too...It's bad enough we're employing a bunch of piss-heads without paying for their vices too...

Dave

[Robert]

It might conceivably be the Government's resonsibility to tell us when things are bad for us. It's not the Government's responsibility to keep on telling us. It's like a man who runs along beside you in the street saying, "I don't think you heard me." Yes, I heard you. Now shut up.

As for fatty foods, don't worry, we'll soon be seeing a "fat tax" over here - purely for our own good, of course.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...-david-cameron

As for the strain on the NHS, I wonder what the NHS would do without all the money raised from duties on cigarettes and alcohol.

And as for the doctors who are always trying to tell me what I should and should not be allowed to do : I would willingly give up smoking if they, the doctors, would consent to being tested for drugs and alcohol every day before they start work.

Oh, and it might get the NHS's costs down if the doctors could refrain from being negligent. I think their negligence is supposed to be costing the NHs at least a billion pounds a year.