Ronald Regan, the 40th President, famously said that government is not the solution but the problem. He also is known for famously saying at a press conference on August 12th, 1986, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.'". He is a Republican, and the Republicans believe in small government and low taxes. Some people believe this because there is a racist element to it, and the well off, rich or white population are not happy seeing their tax money being spent on helping or "wasted on" the poor black population. Regan painted the picture of welfare queens and black single mothers being a drain on society and not contributing to its progress. This has has proven to be a myth. It turns out that the white population in the US uses welfare and government handouts more than the minorities. Then not to think about Government bailouts and loans to the Banks and subsidises to various industries and taxbreaks. There is a series on Netflix that I am watching now, "The G Word with Adam Conover", which seems to indicate that government has really been underappreciated as it often works behind the scenes and it is only noticed when things go wrong. The US government has been working behind the scenes, investing millions, in this case, trillions in the US and the world economy and getting a return that has made almost everyone rich and better. With former President Barack Obama as one of the producers, this series shows that the government was in every significant development in the US. It has a comedic element to it as it was felt that people might not watch it as a long boring documentary.
There was a time when anyone could sell almost anything as food. About 100 years ago, people were sick almost all the time due to the effect of the food they brought from a third party. The food producers virtually poisoned the people by adding various things to cut costs and increase profit. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt passed the Federal Meat Inspection Act. Hence, it was now the role of the government to make sure that all meat was inspected and tested before being rolled out and that it was the right meat, well refrigerated at the correct temperature (no break in the cold chain), and well labelled, and fit for human consumption. The government, they said, is full of bureaucracy, lobbyists and politicians but despite this it does get some things done effectively. One out of 16 people works for the Federal Government in the US. There are specific jobs only the government should do and can do well, without any conflict of interest. Self-regulation is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. They will set up rules and guidelines not to benefit the customers but to ensure their profits.
Another issue that a private enterprise cannot do is the weather reporting as it is so big and complicated and involves many moving parts. For example, regular second by second readings is required from satellite and weather outpost spread across the country. The US Airforce's readings involve directly putting a dropsande within the middle of hurricanes, and a few commercials weather stations also provide data. Because many bodies with different agendas are involved from the Military, Universities, Government bodies, etc only the government, via the National Weather Service, can do it effectively and then make it available free of charge to news outlets, apps, newspapers, websites, universities, stock exchanges, farmers, etc. But a private enterprise that used the government data sued the government to maintain a monopoly on the data and wanted this same data to be sold to the public at a price for profit after repacking it, hence being the only weather data source in the US. The work of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) response is complicated as it involves politics and bureaucracy, and also there is chronic underfunding. That is why the response in Puerto Rico, New Orleans, etc., was a disaster. This resulted from the Republicans and Democrats not investing in the agency.
Whether we like it or not, we trust the government or at least in advanced developed democracies, as they give reassurances to the value of their various currencies. For example, during the Great Depression in the US, there was so much instability and running on the banks that Franklin D Roosevelt had to act. He formed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 1933, which ensured that the various deposits in any bank were guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the US government. The FDIC is working behind the scenes and trying to predict and prevent any disruption. The repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act (GSA), which was put in place by the government after the Great Depression, was implied so that banks would separate investment and commercial banking activities in 1999, was said to be responsible for the 2008 financial crisis. Also another way the government works is during the COVID crisis. The government-induced money into the economy via stimulus checks, loans, unemployment benefits, small business loans, corporate tax breaks, etc.
The government developed the space industry and went to the Moon it provided the money for the various companies which built the rockets, which is an advantage that we are benefiting from even today. The US government made its GPS available to all, hence Google Maps, Uber, Self Driving Cars, Amazon Delivery Service, etc. This world wide system has been maintained by US Air Force, now US Space Force. Also, the internet was started by a government-funded research by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) project called ARPANET. The government started things like SIRI and later brought by Apple, like the graphical computer interface or the mouse. Drones developed and maintained by the US military were later sold to the public. Ranchers use drones, search and rescue teams, photos enthusiasts, and videographers, democratising the skies, transferring medicines, blood samples from rural areas, etc. But the dark side is all these technologies were developed and sponsored by the US military due to the cold war, i.e. the space race to show that the US could launch missiles, GPS -to locate enemy planes and satellites, and the internet was purely initially for military use and systems to be speaking to one another.
Malaria was once endemic in the US, but malaria was eradicated due to the CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention). This government agency drains standing water and kills mosquito larva using pesticides and other chemicals from the US mainland. Diseases like tuberculosis, measles, polio, etc., were eradicated. Currently, the National Institute of Health (NIH) is doing research for illnesses like Sickle Cell using Stem Cell Research to cure it. The life expectancy over the years has increased by 30 years. But what happened during the pandemic? The series said "Trump" got rid of the big government necessary to function in modern society. Hence he got rid of the Homeland Security Advisor (this position was created to handle threats specifically) was removed, the National Security Council Team devoted to pandemic response was fired, and a project called "Predict," which monitored worldwide diseases and was supposed to serve as a pandemic early warning program was got rid off, CDC was slimmed down, a lot of staff were fired, or left leaving numerous vacancies that had to be filled. At the Federal level, this was mirrored at the local level. In the US, experts believe that they went into the pandemic with far less workers than what was required.
In the Final episode, Adam Conover appeared more confused and surprised. The US government claims to be responsible for many things, but it also does much damage. It does so "bigly" when a vast organisation fails, leading to far-reaching consequences. Most of the time, when it works, many people rarely know that it is efficiently and effectively running in the background. But when it breaks down or it is not, then people complain. Obama linked it to being a big ocean liner compared to a small speed boat. The government was difficult to change. The government is being run by human beings who get things wrong sometimes.
But on the whole, real progress is being made, and we are moving forward. Unfortunately, the exact same year Obama became President, Mitch McConnel was elected to the US Senate. Making changes was difficult in the US as they did not want their leaders to become demigods or accumulate power like the Kings and Queens of old.
But the changes can be done, and the power is not only in the Federal Government but also in the State, City Council, Municipal Councils, etc. These are responsible for water, roads, building permits, etc. Like a council was responsible for $22 billion allocations in Nevada and another responsible for 5% of the global oil production in Texas. Although the US has the highest incarceration rate responsible for more 25% of the worlds prisoners which has only about 5% of the world's population. This is due to the District Attorney's power as usually are>90% of the Criminal cases do not go to trial and are settled out of court by plea bargains. The other elections have only 15% of the Presidental Vote, and those above 65 votes 7 times more than those below 35. After Bernie Sanders lost in the Presidential Democratic elections, the local people were motivated to become activists and local politicians. That they have to start the change at the grassroots.
We are all the government if we start small and at our own locality.
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