The most pernicious lie that conservatives promulgate is that the government is the enemy. “I’m here from the government, and I’m here to help,” claimed Ronald Reagan, were supposedly the most terrifying words one can hear.

But in a democracy—and yes, the US is a democracy—the government IS the people. We literally shape it into what we want, and when we want competence, we DO get competence. We have incredible competence in NASA, in NOAA, in FEMA, in NHTSA, in NIH…the list goes on. Denying that isn’t only cynical, it is factually false.

Those who seek to smear “the government” are smearing democracy itself; and they’re insulting your intelligence. Beware people who call everything “waste” and destroy these engines of public service. They are trying to replace the government—our common good—with something they can profit from, which is invariably far worse.