Monday 21 April 2014

Post No. 545: Big or Little Government?



To simplify very considerably, the left side of politics favours Government funding of society’s needs, whereas the right favours private industry and charity and, above all else, users funding society’s needs (I’ve ignored issues of public accountability for public money, opportunity for individuals, ensuring freedom from unfair [e.g., business] influence, human rights, personal responsibilities, human dignity, theories about the economy, etc).

Which one is right?

Well, neither. They’re both just means to achieve goals – the goal of a good society with fulfilled individuals.

If we look at (based on what I perceive in this country) the social need represented by education:
 - the left side of politics would probably come up with a mix of 50% public education (I’m using Australian terms, not those from the UK!), 20% private schools, and 10% parental, leaving a gap of 20% to what society really needs;
 - the right side of politics would probably come up with a mix of 20% public education, with increased fees on the basis of user pays (which discriminates against the poor), 30% public schools and 20% parental, leaving a gap of 30% to what society really needs.

Neither side of politics ever seems to me to take a step back and look at whether or not the total mix of ‘supply’ is meeting society’s needs.

Let’s take another example – homelessness.
- the left side of politics would probably come up with a mix of 20% publically funded actions, 30% private initiatives and charity, leaving a gap of 50% to what society really needs;
 - the right side of politics would probably come up with a mix of 10% publically funded actions, 20% private initiatives and charity, leaving a gap of 70% to what society really needs.

Wouldn’t it be nice if someone who was able to, took the time to publish this type of analysis?


[1] BPLF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Light Forces. See here and here for more on this. 
 
Love, light, hugs and blessings 


Gnwmythr  
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear"; ... aka Bellatrix LuxMorinehtar? Would-be drýicgan ... ) 

My "blogiography" (list of all posts - currently not up to date) is here 
I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ...  See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "pagans for peace" project (and join me at 9 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate for peace), and here for my bindrune kit-bag. I also strongly recommend learning how to flameground and shield, do alternate nostril breathingwork with colour - and see also here, and be flexible.

I am a Walker upon the Path of Balanced Positivity, seeking Spiritual Maturity. 

  • One size does NOT fit all. 
  • Don't be mediocre - seek to excel.  
  • Gnwmythr's Stropping Strap: Occam's Razor only works if  the simplest solution is actually recognised as being the simplest, rather than the one that best fits one's bigotries being labelled 'simplest'.
  • Our entire life experience, with all the many wondrous and varied people, places and events in it, is too small a sample for statistical reliability about Life.
  • May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
  • Ban the dream interpretation industry! 
  • A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
  • Housework is for ensuring a home is comfortable to live in, not competing to outdo or belittle others.
  • Being accustomed to interacting via certain rules makes those rules neither right nor universal. 
  • Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master. 
  • Expertise at intimacy and emotional happiness is generally not the same thing as spiritual growth. 
  • Any person, male or female, who has neither a serious health issue nor dependents and expects their partner to work to support them, is, spiritually speaking, little more than a parasite. 
  • "Following the crowd" is not "going with the flow". 
  • Armageddon is alive and well and happening right now: it is a battle between the indolence of "I only ..." and/or "I just ..." and/or "Everyone knows ... " and/or "they can ..." and what Bruce Schneier [2] calls "security theatre" on one side, and perspicacity and the understanding that the means shape the end on the other. Indolence vs. perspicacity, and expediency vs. honour.
  • The means shape the end.  
  • BPLF restraint of uncooperatives is NOT an opportunity for revenge or getting even - even unconsciously. 
  • As words can kill, the right to freedom of speech comes with a DUTY to be as well-informed, objective and balanced as you can be.
  • My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi", although I've recently come across "Invictus" and might put that one in to that category. However, I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and, for similar reasons, I loathe many dramas, which are often emotionally violent, more so in some cases than many war films. 
  • All of the above - and this blog - could be wrong, or subject to context, perspective, or state of spiritual evolution ... 


Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger [people]. JOHN F. KENNEDY (who was quoting 19th century Episcopal Bishop Phillips Brooks)

Jesus loves you.  Odin wants you to grow up. (Facebook meme, according to John Beckett)


We make our decisions. And then our decisions turn around and make us. F.W. BOREHAM

Females, get over 'cute'. Get competent. Get trained. Get capable. Get over 'cute'. And those of you who are called Patty and Debby and Suzy, get over that. Because we use those names to infantalise females – we keep females in their 'little girl' state by the names we use for them. Get over it. If you want to be taken seriously, get serious. JANE ELLIOTT  

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. (based on writing by) EDMUND BURKE

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." EINSTEIN

We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Those whom we cannot stand are usually those who we cannot understand P.K.SHAW

Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, and the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change." SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY (US Attorney General 1966 Speech) 


Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that -- counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. ... Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile." ROBERT F. KENNEDY 1968


Tags: governance, society, economy,
First published: Manadagr, 21st April, 2014
Last edited (excluding fixing typo's and other minor matters): Monday, 21st
April, 2014