[eahman00]

>becoming financially independent in the US is a matter of years [2], not decades

(European here) I don't care about being financially dependent on the state, because the state is not my enemy. The state gave me healthcare, the state gave me a free education, the state takes care of stuff. I don't care about "freedom".

[dang]

We've banned this account for trolling. Please don't create accounts to break HN's rules with.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

[sparkling]

You may want to talk to some people in Greece...

[skummetmaelk]

This way of thinking is so obnoxiously stupid. Yes some states failed in providing for their citizens. Greece was never a perfect system, the government was always corrupt, overly bureaucratic and nepotistic. That doesn't mean having and devloping trust in your government is always a bad thing. Especially if you live in Germany or Scandinavia. Treating the government as your enemy when it is actively trying to help you and the rest of its citizens is just dumb. Somehow people who hate government trust industry moguls to have their interests in mind more than the government. What the fuck?

[sparkling]

Good intentions of government programs do not mean good outcomes. Rent control is a classic example. Also i really wish we would stop calling out other opinions and ideas as "dumb" and "stupid".

[skummetmaelk]

Good intentions do result in success. Good policies result in success. If you give up and say "government" will never work, then no. Of course it will never work.

Pointing to failed scenarios and saying x failed therefore y will fail is "stupid". You must examine why x failed and make sure you don't include this element when trying to do y. It is an iterative process.

One thing is for sure. If government employees don't have good intentions, the government will be ineffective. Therefore trust in government and willingness to see government as a force for good, willingness to work in a system that does good for its citizens, is imperative to having a good system.

[ttoinou]

  Good intentions do result in success

Then all it needs is people believing it will work so it can work, like magic ! Or Universal Basic Income

  Therefore trust in government 

How citizen trust in government and government employees having good intentions are related ?

[skummetmaelk]

I missed a "not" on the first quote there.

I believe they are related because it is harder for people to develop trust in government if the good intentions of government workers and the governmental system in general is not apparent.

Conversely it is difficult to have a large pool of well intentioned potential governmental employees if a large portion of citizens have been brought up to think that the government is evil. These citizens are much more likely to try to exploit government positions than to treat them with the responsibility for the people that they require.