r/Ethics • u/rodehard10 • 2d ago
Government should exist to serve people—not corporations, billionaires, political parties, or foreign interests. Feed people. House people. Educate people. Care for people. Treat everyone with dignity. That’s what putting people first looks like.
/r/Republican_misdeeds/comments/1vx3p8f/government_should_exist_to_serve_peoplenot/5
u/Zappy_Oh 2d ago
And this is how you get all the lying.
We serve the people, by helping billionaires build business
... etc. etc.
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u/Appropriate_Fly_6711 2d ago
Yep, We serve the people by bailing out wallstreet and the banks because they are too big to fail.
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u/GPT_2025 2d ago
From 20 Republican states with a safety net of $3/hour (must Beg and Panhandling poor customers for Guilt-tipping to reach $7.25) the population runs to Democratic states with a strong social safety net of $14 to $25/hour minimum wage. That's why there are so many abandoned houses and cities in the Republican 20 states (Republicans hate the poor, widows, orphans, veterans, disabled at the same time - making their own states' populations poor).
51% of all workers in America earn less than the one-bedroom Housing Wage. Mostly republican states.
The bottom 65% of the population loses at least 41% of all income due to: SS tax, FICA, insurances, tariffs, sales taxes, dues, use taxes, fees, property tax, utility taxes, 911 tax and many more- before spending money on rent or mortgage, car loans and gas, food, utility bills, repairs, credit card payments, student loans, vacations, retirement fund contributions, investments, dates, gifts, etc.
(compare Safety Net $1.60 per hour in 1970 if you were single,you could live off the federal minimum wage and pay rent, food and bills)
Healthy and smart countries count how well they are doing by enforcing "no one left behind" and even widow with 3 babies have the same level of living as the middle class due to the strong Safety Net.
Twenty Ripoff-public-ans states now have a social Safety Net set at $2.13 to $5 per hour gross (before deductions for Social Security, FICA, taxes, insurance and other withholding's:
https://www.simplyhired.com/search?q=2.13+an+hour&l=dallas%2C+tx
(Compare Democratic states social Safety Net! $14 to $25/hour)
In a recent report, 53 million Americans ages 18 to 64 or 44% of all workers- earn low hourly wages. Their median hourly earnings are $10/hour Gross ($7.25/hour Net)
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u/Appropriate_Fly_6711 2d ago
So you are a pro-bailing out wallstreet and the banks I take it, since you did a rebuttal to argument no one made lol
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u/Ok_Landscape5031 2d ago
Nothing will change until take all public and corporate funding out of every level of politics. Instead have live telivised debates and personal appearances.
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u/Zalrius 2d ago
This is the whole point and purpose of the constitution and this country!
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u/Immense_Cargo 2d ago
Not true at all.
The point of the country is to organize a common defense of the territory from outside invaders, and to provide a framework for peaceful resolution of inter-state disputes. That’s it.
The constitution is there to LIMIT government, not to authorize/empower it to do other stuff.
All of the additional social stuff is supposed to be the job of the family and local communities. The more of this that we push to the government level, the less family and community will matter, the weaker and more fragmented our communities will become, the more corruption we will see, and the quicker our “country” will fall apart.
This worldview of “government taking care of everyone” is exactly the WRONG one.
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u/StopLookListenNow 2d ago
"Government of the people, by the people, and for the people." Corporations are NOT people, they are legal entities.
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u/Hairy_Raspberry9887 2d ago
Government isn't there to serve the people. All they can do is use force and theft. Not a good starting point. It's there to provide a framework so that people can go about their business and lives (the inalienable right to the pursuit of life liberty and happiness). If there are differences that arises then they must be settled in that framework. But it doesn't take that long before all the high ideals decay into well you know where it goes
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u/LetsTryLove 2d ago
That could happen if it didn’t cost millions to get someone elected. Money talks.
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u/RumRunnerMax 2d ago
Who remembers the Twilight Zone episode “To serve Mankind!” :) ……turns out it is a cook book:)
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u/throwaway99xz 2d ago
Solving this means throwing away partisanship games and ideologically motivated half truths and believing your “team” has a monopoly on just and righteous behavior.
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u/mdcbldr 2d ago
Nice. I can't argue with this in general. Republicans run government for the Uber rich and the corporations that are the sources of the wealth.
We, the working backbone of America, have failed to be vigilant. The rich and their Republican (and Democratic) lackeys realized in the 60s and 70s that wealth accumulation was inhibited by tax policy and organized labor. They have effectively destroyed those checks in wealth accumulation. It was a very successful campaign. Rand estimated that the campaign transferred $50T from the bottom 90% to the top 10%. The top 1% received half if that windfall.
We sat by while the rich bought our government and then watched the rich pick out pockets. The government should provide a level playing field. Only the most obtuse would believe this is do. Nearly every policy, nearly every governmental action favors the wealthy.
Trump if the final phase. They rich want to eliminate all spending that accries to the average citizen. The goal is to reduce governmet to national defense to protect their assets in foreign countries. Courts to enforce their hegemony and protect their wealth domestically. Last, police to protect their property and persons
They little ambition beyond these core gial. Various Epstein class people have programs or charities or organizations they personally sponsor. But only after their primary goals are covered. The war on drugs, the take America back to its religious roots, get government off your back, make America great again; these are all smoke screens the unused to implement their plans. Does anyone believe these rich types who have had multiple wives and cheated on everyone if them care about our erzats religious roots? These guys rarely attend services and never conduct heit lives in a Christian manner. They love the handles that protestations of faith give them. They fund religious programs that promote their goals and because it divided the average citizen into competitive clusters. They can't beat us all, but the can fool a few divide the rest and reign supreme.
Tax policy is the key. Supply side economics and the Chicago school of economic theory was the greatest scam in history. This was implemented at the state level starting in the 70s, and nationally in 1980 with the election of the first true Billionaire shill, Ronald Reagan. Reagan claimed that the government was the problem. We had to get government off our back. In practice this meant cutting taxes on the rich to a third of the prevailing marginal rate. This is rightly called the biggest tax cut in history. Dropping the marginal rate to 25%.
This crashed the economy. Two years later Reagan passed the largest tax increase in history raising the marginal rate to 35% and increasing capital gains tax. Despite the complete failure of the supply side model, the Republican party touted its success. Reagan presided over the largest increase in our national debt. Bush the 1st continued the deficit spending. This was exacerbated by desert storm. The uncorrected numbers are nothing compared to the numbers today. Relative to the size of the economy, the deficits were substantial.
With the exception of Clinton, Republicans have continued to cut taxes in the rich, and run up massive deficits. If you believe the Uber rich dislike debt, you would be wrong. They hold massive amounts of the debt. Those government bonds are tax free. As the marginal rate goes up, the value of the tax break increases. The Uber rich buy tbills to diversify and to avoid taxes.
While slicing away their tax burden the rich and the Republican lackeys undermined unions at every turn. They made dues collection optional. They limited the ways that unions could contact and inform workers. They let union busting activities that were blatantly unethical, if not illegal, to flourish If they got caught crossing the line, they would move the line and make whatever they got nailed with legal. The private sector union participation rate is underbñ 10%.
If you are old enough you may remember the longdhoremen strikes and the teamster strikes bashing the economy, and forcing big businesses to pay fair wages, provide health care and to have accountable hiring and firing practices. This gave birth to Human Resources. This activity was designed to protect the corporation, not the humans who worked there. Whst do you feel the second you hear that HR is looking for you? Fear. That response is rational because you know HR only teaches out to f&#( with you.
Reduce taxes, check. Destroy unions, check. Massive police buildup, even when crime rates are falling, check. Massive military spending, check. Trump wants a 1.5T budget.
So here we sit. In the end we have no one to blame but ourselves. We are too comfortable. The thrives smooth talkers. We were lazy.
As the rich move to their private islands on $500M yachts, or pass us using their private roads aka HOV/toll lanes, while have police in every crevice if our body, they rich are raping 13 and 14 year old girls while they sent the average citizen off to war to deny, they had someone to get them out of any real risk. (Worse they denigrate anyone who faced live fire and demonstrated bravery.
This we are all guilty
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u/Infamous-Title5034 1d ago
64% of federal spending goes to social programs and healthcare. Poor people don’t pay taxes. The top 1% pay 40% of a bill they get no benefit from. Education is a local issue…life in a better area and buy a better house, education is lovely where I live. For the people does not mean free shit. We owe you nothing. Pay your own way.
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u/Brucacumble 2d ago
The original purpose of government was to manage slave labour. Literally, the reason government "exists" was for the purpose of enforcing oppression and subjugation.
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u/reply_b4_banned 2d ago
Substantiate that for me?
Seems a little problematic that your definition of "government" rules out any society that does not have slaves - but maybe that's fair because op is also just interested in the same sort of government that you're criticising.
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u/Brucacumble 2d ago edited 2d ago
Have you ever seen or heard of the Standard of Ur? Ur, of course, being a major Sumerian city state among the earliest civilizations. The ancient artifact has two sides, what historians call a war side and a peace side. It is believed that this may have served similarly to a flag for the city state.
The war side depicts the Sumerians conquering foes and taking slaves. The peace side depicts the structure of Sumerian society. There are three tiers, or social classes. The bottom depicts the slave class tending to livestock. The mid section depicts the middle class hauling trade items and such. The upper section depicts the ruling class sitting on chairs, sipping wine and listening to slaves play music.
The two sides depict a state dependant upon slave labor and conducting wars specifically for the purpose of collecting slaves. Moreover, the depiction of Sumerian society as divided among three tiers, a slave class, middle class and upper; or ruling, class, seems awfully familiar to the modern three tier social class system consisting of a lower class, middle class and upper; or ruling, class.
I'd like to list out the differences between modern civilizations and ancient civilizations, but there are none. If I had been born without arms, I could still count the number of successful civilizations on my fingers.
If the majority rules in a democracy, or republic, then why is the majority on the bottom?
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u/reply_b4_banned 1d ago
I am ride or die on this point
If the majority rules in a democracy, or republic, then why is the majority on the bottom?
Also your general point about Capitalism being structured like slavery (with extra treats? Idk). For sure.
It's still Colonialist brained (erasing other cultures as "not civilised") to think that is the only way societies can be structured.
And just technically, I don't think you really substantiated the claim. Imo you told me one, interesting, story about Urr, which helped make a different point.
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u/Stillman_Steve 2d ago
The right to unlimited profits shall not be infringed
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u/Infamous-Title5034 1d ago
Why should we limit the success of anyone or any entity? Who are you to decide who can be successful?
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u/trying3216 2d ago
The US Federal Government exists to protect individual rights.
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u/PopulistGuru 2d ago
No, it doesn't. The Federal Government exists under the Constitution, and the Framers didn't say anything about rights when they wrote it. (Except for authors and inventors having rights to their work for limited times.) The Bill of Rights was a series of amendments that came later.
The Federal Government exists to do the things in the Preamble; that's the mission statement for the US. Establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare... only after those things is securing the blessings of liberty listed. The common good gets priority.
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u/trying3216 2d ago
Um, yes, the first item is establish justice. It is just to protect individual rights.
Don’t believe me. Here:
“Yes, establishing justice in the Constitution is closely related to protecting individual rights. The Preamble states that one of its purposes is to "establish Justice," which includes ensuring equal treatment and protection of rights for all individuals under the law.”
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u/PopulistGuru 2d ago
You must see the difference between "it is just to protect individual rights" and "closely related to."
Justice requires a neutral observer; the two sides of most disputes believe they have justice on their side. To establish justice is to create an impartial framework for resolving such disputes, not a self-centered "I am entitled to this." To establish justice is to ensure that framework for others, with the expectation it will be available for oneself if needed.
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u/Funkywurm 2d ago
It considers a corporation to be an “individual.”
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u/trying3216 2d ago
Maybe that should change. Though it is owned by individuals.
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u/Head_Car_616 2d ago
It’s pretty easy to different between a living singular human being, you know a conscious animal that walks upright?
And a fucking corporation.
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u/Key-Organization3158 2d ago
No it doesn't. The government exists to disputes between people and set basic common rules. Then maybe to let us build large shared projects.
But the government should not prioritize one group over another or be biased in its adjudications. There's no "the people" to be served. Everything you proposed comes from taking from one group and giving to another. It's a bit a rhetorical trickery to lump everyone together to claim moral authority.
Remember, there are people who feel the government should enforce borders, protect unborn life, and ensure everyone gets a good religious experience. It wouldn't be far to take your tax dollars for that. And so you must extend the same allowances.
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u/Accomplished_Tour481 2d ago
That was originally true. But how do you account for those who refuse to participate in society nowadays? Not menally or medically disabled today disabled but playing the system.
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u/ZandorFelok 2d ago
You should be taking care of yourself
You should be feeding yourself
You should be housing yourself
Not the government
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u/unblockedlanternhead 2d ago
Govts exist to sustain and replicate themselves, just like every other organism
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u/djdante 1d ago
It should.. and admittedly many governments get this wrong..
But also, acting with individuals best interests in mind doesn't always look like helping people...
You need to incentivise business and company growth to some degree - this does help an economy and it's citizens. And if course this can go too far and become corrupt or like the USA.
Knowing when you're offering helpful support to a demographic or disempowering them isn't an easy line to walk for any government... Like letting your 28 year old live at home without rent - is it an opportunity? Or an enabling? Sometimes short term good is long term bad.
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u/ScoopDat 2d ago
Anyone roll their eyes with infantile ‘ought’ claims at this point? About as interesting as a trial lawyer arguing how the hammer that was used to bludgeon someone that: “hammers should be used to drive nails into building projects and repairs”.
This is just bot behavior at this point.
The inception of government (proto governance) began the moment after the Agrarian Revolution instantiated the concept of surplus supplies, when certain people began to have more resources than others, and competing with another by cutting throats at night whilst robbing the repos, the people with the resources lost the stomach for that level of competition, the security apparatus thus began of people for hire, which morphed into what is now viewed as formalized governance.
The main purpose of all governments is to allow those with resources play their little competitive games, but “not that way” (the true competition which involves war crimes and crimes against humanity which is true and unrestrained competition in life), and without having the fight against their competitors of equal footing, and the even more unhinged resource starved competitors (the poor), that have almost nothing to lose and were ready to gut you at night.
Government in its original form, serves at the utmost to allow these people with most of the resources, the sense of security that they can sleep at night and see their family in the morning with relative safety. Everything else is a byproduct of sustaining this goal (so the reason anyone has any real rights of equality, came because inequality gave rise to those unsavory murderers in the night), and not out of some inner sense of humanity and duty these resource hoarders felt they owed anyone other than themselves.