What does Ronald Reagan mean by " the most terrifying words in the english language are I'm from the government and i'm here to help"
7 years ago
Answered By Chantelle E
Regan often used this tongue-in-cheek quip in public addresses to improve his relatability as the most visible representative of the US government. It is a somewhat cynical joke based around the idea that when governments become involved in situations they tend to make things worse instead of having the intended effect of making them better. The quote is often used to refer to the burocracy surrounding governmental processes or to lead into examples of times where governments put policies in place that had unintended consequences or unsuccessful outcomes. It promotes the view that government 'interference' is rarely positive, when in fact the opposite tends to be true, at least in democratic political systems such as the United States where there are many examples of successful policies and programs implemented by governments of all levels and government support and involvement is frequently helpful rather than something to be feared.
7 years ago
Answered By Kevin G
In the quote, Reagan uses humour to illistrate the idea that when a government decides it's nessisary to expand its jurisdiction to the private sector, it tends to make the situation worse then it was before. This was/is said to be due to the introduction of exccesive rules and regulations - often refered to as "red tape" - which Reagan claimed unnessisarily restricted the freedom of the individual. The main Idea of what is said in the quote is that when the government tries to help, they wind up sacrificing individual liberties in the process. This, according to Reagan, is something to be feared since individual liberties are fundamental to a free society.
7 years ago
Answered By Chantelle E
Regan often used this tongue-in-cheek quip in public addresses to improve his relatability as the most visible representative of the US government. It is a somewhat cynical joke based around the idea that when governments become involved in situations they tend to make things worse instead of having the intended effect of making them better. The quote is often used to refer to the burocracy surrounding governmental processes or to lead into examples of times where governments put policies in place that had unintended consequences or unsuccessful outcomes. It promotes the view that government 'interference' is rarely positive, when in fact the opposite tends to be true, at least in democratic political systems such as the United States where there are many examples of successful policies and programs implemented by governments of all levels and government support and involvement is frequently helpful rather than something to be feared.
7 years ago
Answered By Kevin G
In the quote, Reagan uses humour to illistrate the idea that when a government decides it's nessisary to expand its jurisdiction to the private sector, it tends to make the situation worse then it was before. This was/is said to be due to the introduction of exccesive rules and regulations - often refered to as "red tape" - which Reagan claimed unnessisarily restricted the freedom of the individual. The main Idea of what is said in the quote is that when the government tries to help, they wind up sacrificing individual liberties in the process. This, according to Reagan, is something to be feared since individual liberties are fundamental to a free society.