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Comment by ThunderSizzle | Hacker News Reader

> I am a strong leftist progressive who believes in strong competent doing government, very much

So your a conservative in the US since the US Federal government is probably the worst example of competency...? Or do you still prefer a strong incompetent fascist government to a weaker competent government that has checks and balances to it?

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I think your question at the end is a good one for discussion. But let’s be honest, even “conservatives” in the U.S. aren’t fighting for small government. It’s barely given lip service, and only when they’re trying to justify gutting government funding. They’re often the ones pushing for authoritarian measures and flirting with outright Nazis at this rate.

I say this as someone who misses the principled “small government” conservative. I didn’t agree with them in a great many ways, but at least I respected them.

Often when I see people advocating for small government, they mostly mean cutting things that they don't use. It's always about cutting welfare, or ending this or that subsidy. Why does (in my country at least) it seem that the "small government" types are the ones that want to criminalise protest, destroy privacy and encryption and make us scan our faces to watch porn (whatever you feel about the subject, can we atleast agree that that is a step to far?). Heck our "small governments" types are trying to get the face of everyone with driver's license in a police database.

"Do you agree with me or are you a fascist?" Come on, you're being unfair. "strong government" can mean many things, strong regulation in the e.g. gambling industry is something a strong goverment does but that doesn't mean it's fascist. Also, the idea that a weak government is the only kind that has checks and balances is just silly. Not to mention there are plenty of leftists that very much want a weak government, not just conservatives. E.g. libertarian socialism, left-wing anarchists, the strong tradition of syndicalist in the US.

Also, you must live a charmed life if you have access to the internet and believe that the US government is the worst example of competency.

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