Rejecting the GOP stance

No human institution is perfect but rejecting governance is just supporting anarchy. Reagan showed us how to toss the baby out with the bath water, a truly stupid and harmful perspective for which we've paid ever since.

--me on Facebook, linking to G is G

Check out Government is Good for a positive recounting of the appropriate and effective role of government in our lives.

It's time we rejected an approach that leaves the powerful unfettered and the rest fucked over. An anti-government bias is just stupid. And dangerous. Where it is flawed, amend it. Where it gets out of bounds, curtail it. Where it is weak or ineffective, strengthen it. Insist upon appropriate oversight at all times and in all areas. But get the hell over posturing against the very notion of it.

h/t to Dems2006

I especially like this quote:

Government is not simply a provider of services, it is a collective moral endeavor that enable us to promote the common good. It is a public space in which we debate moral questions and try to decide on what is good for society. The market cannot perform this function – it is not an ethical enterprise.

Remember, "politics" comes from the Greek word πολις/polis = city-state. Ultimately it means the procedures and structures by which we arrange our life together in community. It is a good, valid, and morally neutral term. Humans practice good politics and bad politics, efficient politics and ineffective politics. Politics is neither good nor bad in itself. In a government like ours which is predicated upon participation by citizens and is created by Us the People, we - all of us - have a responsibility to shape politics and make government good.

--the BB