Re:Why is national id cards / numbers bad ?
by
MourningBlade
·
· Score: 0, Redundant
[I]mpartially serving the citizens is the sole raison d'etre of a government in the first place
Hmmm...no. At least, not to my way of thinking. Let me explain what I think, and maybe you can see where the flaw is in my logic. If you do see a problem, let me know, as this is an area I have interest in.
Ok, would it be fair to say that your statement is basically "serving citizens is the cause of the government"? I hope so, because that's my interpretation of your statement.
If that is true, let's consider several other, similar, roles:
Serving customers is the cause of businesses.
That doesn't sound so wrong in a market-based system. In a demand-economy that might not be the case, but I'll avoid that since we seem to be talking market systems.
But, you see, I don't think we'd say that serving customers is the cause of business. It's more like what is necessary for them to continue their role.
The cause of business would, perhaps, be a gap between that which is desired, and that which is produced (again, assuming market-based systems). Enough people want something enough, and someone who can provide it notices and decides to provide it.
But let's say that that is understood when we say "serving customers is the cause of business."
Which customers?
For some businesses, that's pretty clear. Kinda. Sorta. At first glance.
Consider a computer store: they sell computers to people. It's what they do. So these people who buy computers are customers, right?
Well, the ones who buy computers are. Yes. But so are the computer companies that the computer store sells. Don't believe me? Unless the computer store provides the right environment for these computer companies, and unless they produce so much in sales for them, and unless they make sure their salespeople push the product, the computer companies will cease to give the computer store a good deal, which will harm their bottom line thus costing them money.
If you have to provide a product to someone to make money, they are your customer.
In turn, the other customers of the computer store might be: the government, the people they rent the property from, the local PTA and religious organizations, etc....
As you can see, the phrase "serving customers is the cause of business" becomes meaningless, as "serving customers" describes what the business does from day to day, not why they are there. In addition, the "customers" the business is serving are by no means clear to the supposed "consumer."
But that could be an isolated incident. After all, I came up with the statement, I could be knocking down paper tigers.
But the statement seemed reasonable at first. Let's look at another, similar statement.
Serving his family is the cause of the husband.
This one is a bit different from the last one, but is very, very similar to the original "serving citizens is the cause of government."
The husband helps provide support and protection for the family. The husband is a chosen part of the family (chosen by the wife), and freely (well, most of the time) entered into the family.
But, again, the husband did not marry the wife in order to support and protect her. He married her so that they could be together, and so they would have a future together. And so they could have guilt-free sex with the approval of their parents. That's a big reason, too.;-)
Supporting and protecting is merely part of what he does if he wishes to be a good husband and member of the family.
(he'd also better knock her up when she wants and not before, but that's another topic).
Ok, let's take another example.
Laying eggs is the cause of chickens
Again we look at what the entity produces to determine what the cause is. Again it's "well, not quite".
In this case, however, we are a bit closer: something had to lay
Slashdot Mirror
That's Belgium for you.
Hmmm...no. At least, not to my way of thinking. Let me explain what I think, and maybe you can see where the flaw is in my logic. If you do see a problem, let me know, as this is an area I have interest in.
Ok, would it be fair to say that your statement is basically "serving citizens is the cause of the government"? I hope so, because that's my interpretation of your statement.
If that is true, let's consider several other, similar, roles:
That doesn't sound so wrong in a market-based system. In a demand-economy that might not be the case, but I'll avoid that since we seem to be talking market systems.
But, you see, I don't think we'd say that serving customers is the cause of business. It's more like what is necessary for them to continue their role.
The cause of business would, perhaps, be a gap between that which is desired, and that which is produced (again, assuming market-based systems). Enough people want something enough, and someone who can provide it notices and decides to provide it.
But let's say that that is understood when we say "serving customers is the cause of business."
Which customers?
For some businesses, that's pretty clear. Kinda. Sorta. At first glance.
Consider a computer store: they sell computers to people. It's what they do. So these people who buy computers are customers, right?
Well, the ones who buy computers are. Yes. But so are the computer companies that the computer store sells. Don't believe me? Unless the computer store provides the right environment for these computer companies, and unless they produce so much in sales for them, and unless they make sure their salespeople push the product, the computer companies will cease to give the computer store a good deal, which will harm their bottom line thus costing them money.
If you have to provide a product to someone to make money, they are your customer.
In turn, the other customers of the computer store might be: the government, the people they rent the property from, the local PTA and religious organizations, etc....
As you can see, the phrase "serving customers is the cause of business" becomes meaningless, as "serving customers" describes what the business does from day to day, not why they are there. In addition, the "customers" the business is serving are by no means clear to the supposed "consumer."
But that could be an isolated incident. After all, I came up with the statement, I could be knocking down paper tigers.
But the statement seemed reasonable at first. Let's look at another, similar statement.
This one is a bit different from the last one, but is very, very similar to the original "serving citizens is the cause of government."
The husband helps provide support and protection for the family. The husband is a chosen part of the family (chosen by the wife), and freely (well, most of the time) entered into the family.
But, again, the husband did not marry the wife in order to support and protect her. He married her so that they could be together, and so they would have a future together. And so they could have guilt-free sex with the approval of their parents. That's a big reason, too. ;-)
Supporting and protecting is merely part of what he does if he wishes to be a good husband and member of the family.
(he'd also better knock her up when she wants and not before, but that's another topic).
Ok, let's take another example.
Again we look at what the entity produces to determine what the cause is. Again it's "well, not quite".
In this case, however, we are a bit closer: something had to lay