...that you are of course absolutely right...just as you are about government productivity (low) and mindset (ultimately self-centered). And about Capitalism, which for all it's nasty warts beats the heck out of everything else we've tried. It's the only system that's sustainably workable, given human nature...which, for all it's nasty warts, has got to be our starting point, doesn't it?

A fellow I used to work with, and who was persuing his master's in sociology at the time, told me that all human conflict arises because of a scarcity of resources. I haven't in my mind been able to decide whether I agree or disagree with his assesement, but it has a logical ring to it. And if that's the case, then it can't be too surprising that what government (or anybody, for that matter) can do for us will never be "enough," because there simply isn't "enough" to go around.