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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Question for people who don't believe government should provide a safety net, health care, etc.  What nation is your model for this?  Is there a country (or even a U.S. state) where reducing basic services and the social safety net has produced a thriving populace and healthy economy?  [/quote]

You think the United States got to be the most powerful country in the nation by having an abundance of social programs? I support a safety net, but not a cushy one. I don't see why we have to look at any other country since our own past history in this context and regard gives us so much good evidence. [/quote]
We had several factors in our favor.  Social safety net probably did not play a major role either way, but I know some people argue that it does. I really doubt it though. For years the Soviet Union was the second most powerful country in the world despite the huge disadvantages of it's political and economic system.  Now China is catching up to us, with yet another type of system.[/quote]

This is asinine. Soviet Union was only the "second most powerful" in military spending and power. It lagged far behind the US in economic power. This is one of the reason why the USSR imploded, because the economy tanked under the weight of communism and social programs. Russia is economically stronger now than it was as USSR, but at the same time it also offers *LESS* social programs now than it did under USSR. The story is the same with China, which bordered on economic collapse due to the social programs put in place under communism. Only a march towards free market economy (towards, but not free market yet), fast paced privatization, and a significant reduction in social programs has China now become so much stronger than it was before. That said, neither Russia nor China are models for the US to study. I'd hate to see the US move towards the old communist USSR and China while both Russia and China have moved away form it in the past 2-3 decades. [/quote]
You miss the point.  Economic and military power do not correlate with social safety nets.  The Soviet Union also had a great deal of economic power in its heyday.  Germany built and rebuilt itself into a great military power twice and a great economic power 3 times all while providing a social safety net.

The conservative assumption always seems to be that the optimal social safety net is equal to or less than what we have, but they can provide no examples other than the US itself.  But given the many other historical and geographic advantages the US has enjoyed, how do we know that the social safety net is THE issue that made us great, and that any increase to it would inevitably make things worse?[/quote]

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