For a Private Country

By Daniel Pittaro

​The government should not intervene to help individuals; people should take care of themselves. America was created based on the idea of freedom and a free market. If the government intervenes in a free market economy, then it is no longer a free market. When someone is dependent on something, like their government, they become unable to take care of themselves without that dependency, and this is not the way the America should work. People when they are offered a product or service decide for themselves whether that product or service is worth the price and whether they want to buy it or not. That is how prices are set; the government should not be forcing certain items to be sold at specific prices. Also, if the government tries to help every individual they would quickly run out of funds, making them unable to do the jobs they are supposed to be doing, such as protecting our nation from foreign threats, and creating laws that protect the citizens from themselves. As Robert Nozick explained, a minimal state should be able to enforce contracts and stifle anarchy without provoking violations of the free market.
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The idea that the United States government needs to start minding its own business extends even further to the Government’s affair with foreign nations. America should put its own needs before the needs of foreign countries. Right now the U.S. is in an economic downturn, so our priorities should be focused on getting our nation back up on its feet, instead of helping other nations. No money should just be given to other countries, as is the case right now with Israel. Currently we are giving Israel money, when their income as a nation is actually much larger than a majority of other nations. This is a waste of money. If we want Israel to be our ally we should try getting them to respect us in a way that does not require throwing our money away on a wealthy nation. A nation should be able to stand on its own without gifts from a foreign nation, and if they cannot, they are not fit to be a nation, and need to find a change in leadership and government.

When the government intervenes to help every individual, it heads the government in the direction of an almost socialist, paternalistic government, which is the opposite direction our government should be headed in. This leads to the bigger idea that the government should reduce its size. The government is trying to enforce its will in more areas than they should be allowed for example, gay marriage, and healthcare. People function better without a ton of rules to follow, they just need a few groundwork ideas laid out for them and they can accomplish what they need to from there. The government does not need to make a decision on ever topic the country debates, the only things they should be concerned with, is what it specifically tells them they have power over in the Constitution. Things like creating an army for the defense of the nation, or making sure every citizen of the country gets the rights entitled to them, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The governments should only have power over what is specifically stated in the Constitution, and nothing else.