| The most hilarious part of the narrative is that, when talking about the US federal government at least, a huge chunk of its inefficiency is right near the top of its spending. Social security isn't waste. Its money that goes from taxes to people who then spend it. Its wealth redistribution, but for some stupid reason its from current workers to past workers than from the rich to the poor. But that money is by and large functioning as direct stimulus in myriad ways - most retirees spend their social security checks on goods and services essential to their life, they don't really try to save or reinvest the money that much, it provides a very consistent demand base and revenue stream to build a business for, and it alleviates pressure on the children of retirees to not have to care for them - or for much more expensive welfare programs to take care of them when destitute. Theres probably some really nihilistic misanthropic argument that medicare is a waste, since the recipients are unlikely to make much further substantial economic contribution, but don't go arguing that you should be left to die just because you turned 70 and probably won't be "worth much" anymore. Medicaid however absolutely isn't wasteful. Giving those without the means to afford healthcare access to it dramatically improves their ability to be productive and saves hospitals substantial amounts of money not having to provide live saving treatment for someone who couldn't afford to come until they were actually dying. It keeps people from becoming money drains on the economy by curing their ailments before they become debilitating. But after that... its military spending. With 2.1 million active personnel and a budget of 590 billion the government is paying $280,000 per service member. The military does produce some research, and the US has some influx economic benefit from being the "world police" and largest military on the planet, but almost certainly not enough to offset the amount of money going into what is effectively a public jobs program that doesn't produce almost anything of value to anyone directly. The military does "employ" more than just its enlisted by keeping dozens of weapons contractors in business but they are then just companies manufacturing arms and weapons of war that cannot make anyones life any better. Its all a total and complete waste of money. But of course the GOP platform is always cut everything else and spend more on the military, despite it being the most blatantly wasteful use of federal money, because its "their" jobs program, not the "others" jobs program. Spending money on the military is just a way to win elections for most rather than anything to consider a moralistic evil for wasting so much - money, lives, time, effort - on. It seems the conservative take away from the New Deal was that the guy giving someone money to dig ditches and fill them in is probably going to get the ditch diggers vote. |