I want to be left alone (2024)

How people feel about the government.

Not how I feel. I like government. I want to be left alone WITH my government-- who I think of as my fellow citizens trying to do their best.

And then the natural disaster hits and we're all: "What about those fat piles of cash I paid in taxes? How about some relief?"

And the government is all: "You wanted to be left alone."

amazing there are still people like (I mean this sincerely!) who think this way. fellow citizens trying to do their best is about as far removed of realities of my government (usa) that it is almost surreal reading your words

"The government" is not trying to get me to do any of those things listed on the site. Corporations are doing this.

There are many, many US government employees this accurately describes. Well, to be clear, many of them just got fired.

There were a lot of people trying to do the best they can and doing great things until Trump started fucking that up by firing them. Now there are 10s of thousands of people getting paid not to do what used to be their jobs. and many more not getting paid at all. Trump's attacks on competency are going to be felt for the rest of our lives.

Frankly, I feel just the opposite in terms of what 90% of the government does on a day to day basis.

I do want the government to continue maintaining my road and the network it connects to.

I do want the government to respond quickly when a water main breaks on Sunday morning.

I do want the government to maintain their fleet of emergency service vehicles.

I've lived in countries where these things don't happen, and no one there was happy about being left alone. I normally only see this sentiment from people who have never lived in places with truly dysfunctional government.

If you want to truly be left alone by the government there are places you can go to be where the government will not concern itself with you in any practical way (in the US if that's where you are, or internationally if that's more your flavor). What you will discover is that it turns out that it is very difficult to live in a place where you have to manage all of your own infrastructure and services.

There are many levels of government that provide many levels of service.

When I encounter this sentiment it is almost always from someone that has never lived in a country with a dysfunctional government.

Despite all of the well publicized and fair criticisms of governance in the US, you still live in a place where you can - for one of many examples - count on the water being safe to drink in 99% of circumstances (I grew up in Lima, where not only was the water unsafe to drink, it frequently just wasn't on. Every house had a backup water tank. That's the level of service in a good neighborhood in the Capitol).

Go spend some time outside the US in a non tourist area, in a developing country. The level of functionality when you come back to the US will be a palpable relief.

Do you want roads and transit infrastructure to be kept in good condition? No, I want to be left alone.

Do you want grants for research or the arts? No, I want to be left alone.

Do you want a landlord-tenant board who will protect your apartment from being turned into a pig sty? No, I want to be left alone.

Do you want universal health insurance that scales with your income bracket? No, I want to be left alone.

Do you want people to come put out your house if it catches fire? No, I want to be left alone?

I keep running into people working for the government who are not monsters. Who are YOU running into?

(I'm not talking about ICE or Republicans.)

I know. Someone people are so distrustful of the government that when they take it over they MAKE it untrustworthy to retrospectively prove that they were "right."

Libertarianism in a nutshell.