Hacker News Reader

Typically "a bad place to be ambitious" implies that others will try to exploit you instead. Keep in mind that a mismanaged government can be a lot more predatory than any private actor.

View on HN

> Keep in mind that a mismanaged government can be a lot more predatory than any private actor.

What's the basis for this claim? What is a "mismanaged government" but one that is controlled by narrow private interests? Or is this coming from a "all tax is exploitation" angle?

Is there a government that's not ultimately controlled by narrow private interests? A well-managed government is merely one where inbuilt norms and traditions (including the Western traditions of constitutional human rights and separation of powers, but not only!) manage to limit the extent to which the narrow private interest of government actors can lead to predatory exploitation of the broader public.

> including the Western traditions of constitutional human rights

I never really got why the west is so proud of not establishing basic rights of access to food, shelter, healthcare, and education. I don't quite understand the point of them otherwise.

> Is there a government that's not ultimately controlled by narrow private interests?

Without deep knowledge, I'd suggest Switzerland, simply because of the directness of its democracy

Reply on news.ycombinator.com