CattleArmy
Well-known member
The problem is not that the philosophy of the Republican administration isn't working the way it's supposed to work, the problem is that it is working the way it's supposed to work.
They don't believe that government has a role in solving national problems because they believe that government is the problem. They think we're better off if we just dismantle government.
In the form of tax breaks, everyone is responsible for buying your own health care, your own retirement security, your own child care, your own schools, your own private security forces, your own roads, your own levees.
It is called the Ownership Society, in Washington. But historically there's been another term for it; it's called Social Darwinism. The notion that every man and woman is out for him or herself.
It's a bracing idea; the idea that you're on your own. But there's just one problem, it doesn't work. It ignores our history. Yes, our greatness as a nation is dependent on self-reliance and individual initiative, and a belief in the free market. But it's also dependent on our mutual regard for each other. Our sense that we have a stake in each other's success. That everybody should have a shot at opportunity. Americans understand this.
...
-Sen. Barack Obama @ Take Back America Conference 2006
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
They don't believe that government has a role in solving national problems because they believe that government is the problem. They think we're better off if we just dismantle government.
In the form of tax breaks, everyone is responsible for buying your own health care, your own retirement security, your own child care, your own schools, your own private security forces, your own roads, your own levees.
It is called the Ownership Society, in Washington. But historically there's been another term for it; it's called Social Darwinism. The notion that every man and woman is out for him or herself.
It's a bracing idea; the idea that you're on your own. But there's just one problem, it doesn't work. It ignores our history. Yes, our greatness as a nation is dependent on self-reliance and individual initiative, and a belief in the free market. But it's also dependent on our mutual regard for each other. Our sense that we have a stake in each other's success. That everybody should have a shot at opportunity. Americans understand this.
...
-Sen. Barack Obama @ Take Back America Conference 2006
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...