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Friday, April 05, 2013

Is Government A Robot From Outer Space?

PoliticalWire's Quote of the Day comes from Republican former Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), from his letter to staff upon taking over as head of the Heritage Foundation:
Today, more people than ever before -- 69.5 million Americans, from college students to retirees to welfare beneficiaries -- depend on the federal government for housing, food, income, student aid, or other assistance once considered to be the responsibility of individuals, families, neighborhoods, churches, and other civil society institutions.
Of course, government consists of civil society institutions. Of course, government is funded and administered by and accountable to individuals, families, neighbors, churchgoers. Of course, when government is of by and for the people, government is a site -- not the only one, but an indispensable one -- through which we determine and discharge our responsibilities to and for and through one another. Of course, to the extent that people depend on social stability, legal equity, protection of diversity, infrastructural affordances, access to public and common goods then it is not just 69.5 million but literally every single citizen who depends on government. Government isn't an evil alien robot from outer space programmed for destruction, government is we the people and make no mistake that right-wing hostility to government is an expression of hostility to we the people.

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