The Presidential primary season is in full swing with Obama and Clinton in a knock down drag out fight over... Well I'm not sure exactly what the differences are between them; they both seem to be against the war (at least for now) and they both seem to be for a Universal Health Care System.  They both seem to tout pro minority rights and have ties to lobbyists.  The biggest thing they seem to have in common is the philosophy that government can solve all problems; it’s this ideology that I do not understand.

For as far back as I can remember the term “Government” has been used to describe red-tape, inefficiency and flat out laziness.  When anyone uses the word in this way it is said with a sneer and a disdain that only years of dissolution and unfulfilled promises can bring.  The term is being used with such contempt because I, nor anyone I know, have seen anything to the contrary.  The social programs that we should be so proud of are seen as scams, allowing the lazy to “work the system” while the rest of us “work for the system.”  Even the social equality that out government has tried to create over the past 50 years is seen as reverse discrimination by many.

I do not believe it is a liberal ideal that our government should not be a racist one, but the liberal implementation of that ideal is to create outright racist programs within the government (i.e. affirmative action).  This makes no sense and only breeds a sense of entitlement among minorities and a feeling of disenfranchisement in the majority; dividing us as a whole.  I believe that the government should not strive to force racially equality; instead government should colorblind.  No financial aid, down payment assistance or voter registration application should take race into account, as a benefit or hindrance to the applicator.  This very notion is absurd, yet it is a cornerstone of Liberalism.  With most American’s having no confidence in the government’s ability to accomplish its basic tasks, why do we expect the government to be able to successfully enforce equality or provide healthcare?

Government’s poor reputation is well deserved, evidenced by the fact that we can barely trust our state and federal governments to guard our boarders and maintain our infrastructure, two tasks that are undeniably functions of government, and are undeniably being neglected. Keeping this in mind, how can we expect a government run healthcare system to succeed?  When you have a heart attack would you like your medical care to be handled as well as the Iraq War?  When you’re 6 year old child has an appendicitis do you want their health to be guarded as well as our boarders have been?  When you’re in your last days of life do you want the nursing staff to care for you as well as any town USA has cared for their streets?  All the while wasting money at every turn, in a way that only large bloated and inefficient bureaucracies can… I do not, nor will I ever, understand why we, as a society, would want to put our healthcare in the hands of crooked politicians who routinely carry a 10-20% approval rating. 

I don't know the solution, but I do not government is not it...

-Jamie Drane