Welfare - are you for or against it and why?

[HeyItsZeus]

BOLD: So does the private sector........... besides government can be reformed. Greed can not be reformed though.

1. No, the private sector in general is far more cost effective. With rules. Again though, that's a red hearing on your part, I am not advocating government control be given to the private sector, I am advocating returning the resources and responsibilities to individuals. When were they taken away?

2. Government isn't immune to greed, as you know. Yeah. Neither are you or I.

3. Greed is fine so long as it doesn't manifest through force, fraud, coercion or negligence. I don't think the fact of someone being greedy should be any reason for punishment, it is how they express this greed that matters. Yes, I agree.

4. The equivalent of government reform in the private sector is demand for their products and services, should that diminish a new executive board and CEO are put in place of the failed ones. It's commonplace. Corporations and large businesses are and have been completely corrupt for a while now... Just like the government. In many case these large businesses infiltrate the government for their own private intentions. The Private Sector doesn't always fix itself. It rarely does. But we must remember that some things I see as corrupt you may not and vice versa.

UNDERLINED: Stop dreaming.... if it wasn't for regulation big business would really fuck you over!

Again, as long as they don't use force, fraud, coercion or become negligent I don't care what they do - If I dislike a business I don't give them my money. Regulation effects the vast majority of businesses that would do no wrong in order to punish the few who would, rather than so many decent businesses small and large being subject to the added costs of doing business we should have much tougher punishments for those who have done wrong - It's very much alike the bullshit anti-terrorism laws that treat innocent people like they're potential criminals. In order to keep walls standing up we need to renovate them. I'm not saying the regulations in place are perfect. All I'm saying is regulation is a vital part in keeping business fair.

"....we should have harsher prison sentences to deter people/organisations from using force, fraud, coercion or neglecting their responsibilities." -I completely agree with you there.

That we should have harsher sentences or we should replace some regulation with harsher sentences? I think the latter should be preferred, 1) It doesn't have a negative impact on ethical business owners, 2) It's more resource effective. It just may work if regulated correctly.

May I ask a question? Do you support lasez-faire (forgive my French spelling) capitalism?

Yeah, but with one distinction, some instances should be removed from the market rather than being kept in the market and then having government interfere. Police, road, power infrastructure, defence, stockpiled resources for disasters, water, prisons, law, Fire services, emergency ambulances, healthcare for the very poor and a few other things - I genuinely believe that a government could be effective with about 1/16th of the activity they are currently involved in - Any government that is in the red is doing something seriously wrong. Obviously, but what is being done wrong is up to interpretation. To our misfortune the answers are not clear.