> that "we" is the whole of the citizens and residents of the country, not a central planning committee
But none of us have the power to run the entire country, and we couldn't do it properly even if we had the power. So saying that "we" should do things that are beyond our power is pointless.
If you think not enough people have jobs, start a business and hire some. If everyone who complains about unemployment went and did that instead, if it didn't completely solve the problem, it would certainly make a huge dent.
> the government is the power apparatus that is meant to express and realize our common good.
If "our common good" just means ensuring a level playing field and letting freedom work, sure. That's what the US government was originally intended to do.
However, governments today have gone far beyond that to try to dictate to everybody what "our common good" should mean based on some particular interest group's ideas about social policy. That is a recipe for disaster, and we should stop doing it.
> wealth by itself, especially as we measure it, is hollow and a poor collective goal
I'm not sure what you mean by "as we measure it". If you mean that "we" measure it in money, then of course you are correct: money is not wealth.
If you measure wealth as economists actually measure it, however, by the possibilities that are open to people--the range of things they can choose to do with the resources and options available to them--then people today are wealthier than pretty much every human being who ever lived.
> industry, purpose, solidarity, community, well-being, welfare, success, esteem, respect, free expression, etc. are all (much) higher on that list.
If you think these are valuable things, then go build them.
If you think government should dictate to people that they need to build these things, whether they want to or not, IMO you are being inconsistent, since the whole point of all these good things is that people can only do them voluntarily; if they are forced to do them, you don't get them, you get sham imitations instead. So once again, government should not be used to impose these things on people; it should be used to ensure a level playing field so free people can build them as they see fit.
But none of us have the power to run the entire country, and we couldn't do it properly even if we had the power. So saying that "we" should do things that are beyond our power is pointless.
If you think not enough people have jobs, start a business and hire some. If everyone who complains about unemployment went and did that instead, if it didn't completely solve the problem, it would certainly make a huge dent.
> the government is the power apparatus that is meant to express and realize our common good.
If "our common good" just means ensuring a level playing field and letting freedom work, sure. That's what the US government was originally intended to do.
However, governments today have gone far beyond that to try to dictate to everybody what "our common good" should mean based on some particular interest group's ideas about social policy. That is a recipe for disaster, and we should stop doing it.
> wealth by itself, especially as we measure it, is hollow and a poor collective goal
I'm not sure what you mean by "as we measure it". If you mean that "we" measure it in money, then of course you are correct: money is not wealth.
If you measure wealth as economists actually measure it, however, by the possibilities that are open to people--the range of things they can choose to do with the resources and options available to them--then people today are wealthier than pretty much every human being who ever lived.
> industry, purpose, solidarity, community, well-being, welfare, success, esteem, respect, free expression, etc. are all (much) higher on that list.
If you think these are valuable things, then go build them.
If you think government should dictate to people that they need to build these things, whether they want to or not, IMO you are being inconsistent, since the whole point of all these good things is that people can only do them voluntarily; if they are forced to do them, you don't get them, you get sham imitations instead. So once again, government should not be used to impose these things on people; it should be used to ensure a level playing field so free people can build them as they see fit.