More discourse on the negative side of the Reagan Revolution

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

First of all, an apology. I apologize and now regret my voting for Reagan and supporting him and his philosophies, which eventually grew into the destructive Me-First, society second ethos of the current Republican Party. I don't think anyone could have foreseen these effects (except my beloved Socialist Grandmother, who openly despised Reagan). I won't go into another of my long rants today, instead I came across 2 links that illustrate for me the truly disastrous impact of this ethos.

An illustration of why it is bad for private companies to take over what was formerly governmental duties.

The whole idea of private corporations running prisons has always seemed nonsensical to me. I have always felt that law enforcement and incarceration are things that should be handled by the government, it should not be a profit making enterprise. How this ties into the 'Reagan Revolution' is the idea that government is bad, private enterprise is good, and the best option in almost all cases to running any government department was to turn it over the seemingly more efficient private enterprise. This idea does 2 things. First, it brings a profit making ethos into arenas that just don't make sense as a place to turn a profit. Second, it creates an atmosphere where private companies see a justification for corrupting public officials. Thus you get Haliburton, innumerable Defense Contractor corruption cases, and cases like this. It feels almost Third World, where corrupt government officials turn over their duties to the highest bidder.

And here is, finally, a response to more know nothing nonsense.

Another aspect of the 'Reagan Revolution' is the idea that, since the government is inherently bad (a self fulfilling prophecy based on the above comment), then someone else must be held responsible if something goes wrong. Well the whole idea of blaming immunization is akin to this. I have to blame someone if my child is autistic, it can't just be fate, or scientific odds catching up to me. And if I have to blame someone, then who better than the government, or some similar authority? It's a me-first ethos that says I shouldn't have to accept the hand that fate has dealt me. Which is great for encouraging a Horatio Alger attitude about work and bettering your position. But it's bad for society because people put themselves first, 'it's my wallet that the government wants to dig in when it charges taxes'. It's the government or Doctors fault that my kids got dealt a bad hand, 'someone has to be blamed, because it certainly isn't my fault'.