Hey, @clumsysilverdad.

I'm in agreement that our governmental systems are too large. I will also go as far to say that they could not be abandoned overnight. It took the United States at least 120-ish years to get to where it's at now, and so to think it could be dismantled within the four year term of a president is very much wishful thinking—too many entanglements.

But then, to apply a cliche which I find apropos to your topic, "You get what you pay for."

Most of us, want to live our lives the best we can, in the way we want. That, I feel is the bottom line. We want to be left alone to do so. That generally means paying attention to things we want to do, and virtually ignoring the things we don't.

And helping to make decisions on a macro scale is one thing we're more than happy to give to leaders to do, if it means we can keep doing what we want to do. Until we can't, because of the decisions the leaders are making, then we're not so cool with it.

I am not a fan of government, period, but until a majority of us are willing and able to dedicate enough time to electing officials that will do the will of the people, and not their own self-serving agendas, we can't get on to the next step, which would be having enough time to make the decisions en masse. A true democracy, as people keep clamoring for.

Even then, though, that doesn't mean we're going to reach an agreement or consensus. Too many micro interests.

re: safety/protection/minimum wage

Just as I'm not a fan of government, I'm not a fan of big business, either. Most big things end up doing more harm than good. It becomes more about survival and profits than it does providing quality products and service at reasonable/affordable prices. Monopolies form and competition disappears.

So, because of that, unions and then government stepped in and said, "You need these things or no work will be done."

So, in reality, we the people become our own worst enemies because most of us are less about ensuring the common good as we are ensuring our own personal futures. There's an independence streak involved with that, along with some laziness and ignorance thrown into the mix.

Does that mean those who espouse the ideals of capitalism and a barebones government should give up striving for those types of ideals? I'd say no. In my mind, it's about the only chance we have, to keep making noise, educating and offering alternatives. Otherwise, we're stuck where we've been for most of the world's history. A few making decisions for everyone.