Why does America fear/distrust it's government?

[Lazier Than Thou]

I'm going to explain it with a quote from Americas most famous and influential president:

A government is like fire, a handy servant, but a dangerous master.

Man is mortal and, as such, inherently flawed. In order to provide man with the most freedom to pursue his own freedom, restraint must be put upon government so that no one is above or below another. All men, after all, are created equal and one has no more right or less right than another to live, own property, or master their own destiny.

When was the lesson of "tyranny = bad" forgotten? Was it during the holocaust when millions were killed because of an oppressive government? Was it during Stalins Russia, when millions were killed because of an oppressive government? Was it during Communist China, when millions were killed because of an oppressive government?

Notice a trend in any of those? Now tell me how many millions were murdered by freedom.

 

[SuriKatta]

I dislike the American government because of the fact that Obama's healthcare plan is being ignored because it is "socialist". So only the rich and powerful can get healed without having to sell everything they own, while the common folk (i.e. me and everyone else who wasn't born with the silver spoon of Jesus Christ shoved up their ass) have to sacrifice an arm and a leg to fix an arm and a leg.

Well i dont have to sell everything i own for healthcare. and im definitely in teh have not category. I make less than 40K a year and support a family of 5. Definitely wasnt born with that mythical spoon you speak of either. Do a bit more research before you form your opinion. I pay 4200 a year for my health care and dont have to pay for anything save medications and then i only pay 5% of the cost on those. How is that selling an arm and a leg?

In BC, Canada, with an income bracket of less than 40K a year for a family of 5?

You'd pay exactly $96.80 per month.

That's $1,161.60 per year.

If you were a single person making just over 22K a year?

You'd pay $12.10 per month.

That's under $150 per year. That covers everything except dental.

Yes, even stuff like open heart surgery, chemotherapy, etc.

And yes, you can choose your own doctor.

No, you really don't have to wait that long.

And Alison would've been scheduled for surgery immediately.

...

Yep.

 

[Not Good]

Lack of passion coupled with tedious bureaucracy. No one is ready to show emotion for no real reason, and hours of a speech are just spent talking about tedious crap.

The Central Bureaucracy from Futurama is closer to reality than we think.

 

[LikeDustInTheWind]

Every government should be feared and distrusted a little bit.

snip

I'll just leave this here... it says what needs to be said about it.

Truer words have never been worked into a demotivational poster before.

And this. Also awesome avatar ^_^

 

[Matthew Kjonaas]

The Vietnam war created most of the distrust and increased with things such as Watergate which made some people question what the government was doing. Also no one should be unquestioned and not have answers after they have made a choose.

 

[eljawa]

my issue isnt that i distrust my government so much as I distrust all of the social elite in America. The people who control the game so the rest of us cant win. I support universal healthcare because i trust my government more than a corporation, but thats not saying much lol

Sorry, this kind of turned into a rant.

It's this attitude of "Screw the government" that most Americans seem to have. They object to paying even reasonable taxes, despise their government, whoever's in charge, and fight every single piece of legislation like their lives rely upon it.

To an extent, they have a point, in that the system is so ridden by corruption and incompetence, but then the problem becomes the society surrounding the government, and the people that are running it.

Americans ***** that they don't want the government running things, but the fact is that the government is the sole organization in their entire fucking country with an interest in actually helping them, as opposed to screwing them for all that they're worth.

I mean, if you don't want healthcare in the hands of the government, then no one at all is going to take it up. Look, fuck the people who are too short-sighted to see this. I love America, but it can really drive me up the wall sometimes.

Not everything the government does is done to hurt you. No, the government does not exist specifically to screw you. In fact, it's about the only thing out there trying to help you.

Okay, I'm riled up now, so one more thing. What the FUCK is with your tax rate? You guys wonder why your economy is fucked? The highest tax bracket kicks in at over a third of a million dollars, and it's only thirty five fucking per cent! You wonder why your economy is fucked? It's because you're fucking it! The media feeds your population a load of horseshit, and they swallow it whole.

Please, America. I love you guys, but stop bitching about your government, and work with them, for once. They are, theoretically at least, you, and yet you fight them every step of the way.

No, blind obedience to whatever the government wants is not good, but neither is fighting them every step of the way. There is a middle ground, believe it or not.

hey man, way to bash america, As an american, I gotta say, we kick ass. AT least we arent europe.
But the government is more interested in helping corporations than individuals. Lobbyists and shit. Also it is interested in not being radical.

i agree that taxes need to be raised on the rich, but as someone who is finding it nearly impossible to get a job for a few months, Its hard to justify a universal increase because gas is so expensive

idk man. you seem to be siipping that hateraide pretty strongly. and you are wrong

 

[MercurySteam]

Also awesome avatar ^_^

Thank you

Now if you'll excuse me, John F. Kennedy needs me to help him fight Godzilla.

 

[Tim_Buoy]

I was flicking through the American health service thread, and noticed that the main argument that the main argument against free healthcare was that they didn't want the government controlling it.
Most American's I've talked to also seem to distrust their government, a lot more than Europe does. Your constitution also seems to have been designed from the ground up to prevent the government from having anything more than a fringe affect on anything.

So, why does America distrust it's government so much more than Europe?

I can't really give you an answer but an observation as an Australian is that American people are affraid of a lot of things. It seems that Americans are a lot more paraniod the rest of the world. I have no idea why though. This is a thing that has always bothered me why don't americans have free health care??? It seems completely rediculas to me. And why aren't the gun laws stricter over there. Maybe i don't get it as an Australian but having the right to bear arms in the constitution doesn't make much sense. I'm not saying i hate guns and they should be banned but certain guns aren't that are avilible in america aren't used to hunt animals so why have them. All it takes to defend your self is a pistle. I've side tracted a lot but would some one explain why america is so afraid.

it all really goes back to the american revolution and the acts that parliament passed that oppressed the colonies. and the current paranoia is fueled by far right and left wing media. i ass a us citizen want to trust the government but after seeing all the effects of everything they do to try to "help" me i find it hard

 

[Acting like a FOOL]

Sorry, this kind of turned into a rant.

It's this attitude of "Screw the government" that most Americans seem to have. They object to paying even reasonable taxes, despise their government, whoever's in charge, and fight every single piece of legislation like their lives rely upon it.

To an extent, they have a point, in that the system is so ridden by corruption and incompetence, but then the problem becomes the society surrounding the government, and the people that are running it.

Americans ***** that they don't want the government running things, but the fact is that the government is the sole organization in their entire fucking country with an interest in actually helping them, as opposed to screwing them for all that they're worth.

I mean, if you don't want healthcare in the hands of the government, then no one at all is going to take it up. Look, fuck the people who are too short-sighted to see this. I love America, but it can really drive me up the wall sometimes.

Not everything the government does is done to hurt you. No, the government does not exist specifically to screw you. In fact, it's about the only thing out there trying to help you.

Okay, I'm riled up now, so one more thing. What the FUCK is with your tax rate? You guys wonder why your economy is fucked? The highest tax bracket kicks in at over a third of a million dollars, and it's only thirty five fucking per cent! You wonder why your economy is fucked? It's because you're fucking it! The media feeds your population a load of horseshit, and they swallow it whole.

Please, America. I love you guys, but stop bitching about your government, and work with them, for once. They are, theoretically at least, you, and yet you fight them every step of the way.

No, blind obedience to whatever the government wants is not good, but neither is fighting them every step of the way. There is a middle ground, believe it or not.

if you looked at and studied the social and economic degradation of the American black population following practices meant to "help" them you'd distrust the government to.

most of the governments business regulations destroyed the hopes of under class entrepreneurs in inner cities, despite their intentions to help the poor.union centered labor laws have resulted in higher unemployment rates of blacks over the years. I'm talking about intentions but results. the current welfare system destroyed the family by disinsentivising family solidarity by providing aid to women who are unmarried with children and withholding it from women who are not, despite them both being of the same economic standing. this causes women to find wedlock less objectionable and even desirable.thus,welfare unintentionally promotes an economic behavior that pushes them deeper into poverty while it sustains their self destructive lifestyles. I'm black and I see this shit and I know why I hate a lot of the stuff the government does in order to "help" my people.

welfare should've been a temporary aid to poor people in need of essentials. not cash in the pocket of able bodied adults with too much time on their hands.

the government has yet to reign in the drug war that has lead 1/4th of the population to incarceration and leaves the profitable drug monopoly in the hands of the underground which causes an increase in gang violence.

Government has a monopoly on legal violence.(i.e. when the government kills civilians in foreign lands it's "collateral damage").

Government has a monopoly on printable currency so that it can draw freshly printed money for paying various projects it can't actually afford and eventually inflates that currency it has standardized.

above all else, when people say that preferring the government to a large is business because it has our interests at heart is partly laughable.
I have not once met a business that put a gun to my head and forced me to buy it's product.yet the government does exactly that(taxing).
most politicians say the shit they do to win votes then they get their power and do something else. they promise money going into programs for people for votes. they are basically bribing citizens for support(with their own money no less).

I prefer the people ruling themselves through voluntary association and common law over institutional force and coercion.

at the least people should be free to choose some of the taxes they pay into.

 

[blind_dead_mcjones]

The crux of the matter is not that America fear/distrusts its own government (just about every nation in the world views its governing body with a degree of skeptisicm) but rather that its fear of its own government compared to other countries is flat out irrational to the point of paranoia

admittedly not without good reason given the precedent set over the last 50 years

part of it stems from the country having the mindset of the angsty adolescent who moves out of home to spite its parents and knows nothing of the world, and as of consequence has bitten off more than it can chew to its own detriment (and with the government being the ones in charge they wear the full brunt of the blame)

as with all things chosing a government boils down to choosing the lesser of two evils, a situation worthy of skepticism

 

[Canid117]

Because the government fucks up and fucks us over every now and again and its nice to keep them accountable for it.

 

[Reallink]

I think that most people have a very one-way approval of politicians. They do something good? That's their job. Do something bad? They don't hear the end of it. They oppose something you support? They are devil's in human disguises.

Honestly, I don't hate politicians, but I don't like that a lot of politicians are elected because they act in a politician-y way. I don't blame a system of capitalism or anything the young radical people like to harp on about (and I'm studying media, so I hear about it a LOT). I just want them to listen and to act on what the country NEEDS. If they do that, I will be happy. Higher taxes well spent? Go ahead. Going to war for a good reason? I don't like it, but someone has to draw the line if we are legitimately threatened,

Call me apathetic, but I'm just doing my best to be reasonable and realistic.

 

[zehydra]

Because we've been playing this game longer than you guys have? You can't trust governments, period, because you can't trust people in power, period.

I would call any country that blindly allows its government to do things without oversight by something naive

And you think that the CEOs of your major businesses don't have power?

It's not a question of whether or not a minority has power, that emerges in any system, it's a question of WHO has the power, and I'd trust a government elected by the people far more than an unelected man who's only mandate is that he got rich through the ruthless world of business.

I trust neither. It's not a decision of trusting one over the other.

 

[TStormer]

Because we've been playing this game longer than you guys have? You can't trust governments, period, because you can't trust people in power, period.

I would call any country that blindly allows its government to do things without oversight by something naive

And you think that the CEOs of your major businesses don't have power?

It's not a question of whether or not a minority has power, that emerges in any system, it's a question of WHO has the power, and I'd trust a government elected by the people far more than an unelected man who's only mandate is that he got rich through the ruthless world of business.

I trust neither. It's not a decision of trusting one over the other.

That's precisely what it is. Left and Right wings are just which you trust more.

 

[zehydra]

Because we've been playing this game longer than you guys have? You can't trust governments, period, because you can't trust people in power, period.

I would call any country that blindly allows its government to do things without oversight by something naive

And you think that the CEOs of your major businesses don't have power?

It's not a question of whether or not a minority has power, that emerges in any system, it's a question of WHO has the power, and I'd trust a government elected by the people far more than an unelected man who's only mandate is that he got rich through the ruthless world of business.

I trust neither. It's not a decision of trusting one over the other.

That's precisely what it is. Left and Right wings are just which you trust more.

That's an extremely oversimplified generalization of Left-wing and Right-wing. For instance, there are political positions which are considered left/right wing which do not base their opinions around trust. Many voting Republicans (I say voting, because the politicians they elect may have other motives), believe that Government regulation hurts the economy, and use that as their motive for being against Government regulation. They don't even have to trust businesses, they just don't agree with say, Keynsian (spelling?) economics.

Anyone who limits themselves to trusting one or the other has already committed himself to trusting the system itself.

Power corrupts wherever it is, whether it be in Politicians or in the hands of Money hungry business owners. To have to decide on one or the other means you that you have to already trust "humanity" with power to some degree.

 

[thevillageidiot13]

The government has power in a very Captailistic society, I don't see a reason not to fear it.

I really don't agree. The sole purpose of government is to prevent purely-Capitalist enterprises interfering with the welfare of the people as a whole. The duty of a government is to hold power over business and disincentivise unethical practice on behalf of its citizens. Laws are set by whoever holds the power to enforce them, and an elected government is essentially a way of putting that power in the hands of a group whose eventual goal is not solely to acquire power and profit (although obviously both things are desired as a means to an end), but to enrich and empower the citizenry as a whole. Stronger businesses mean weaker government, not the other way round.

That's not really the sole purpose of the government. Frankly, the purpose of the government is up to interpretation. Some would say that it is there to win us wars and give us some national pride. Others would say that it's just a bunch of rich white people lining their pockets. Many say that it's just a corrupt piece of shit trying to oppress the people.

You can't say, with 100% confidence, that "this is the purpose of government, period," because, frankly, it doesn't really have a purpose other than being the official posterboy of a nation and being the ruling force behind that nation.

Trying to win wars/give national pride to what end? Just a bunch of people killing time, as a hobby? And as for oppressing the people, yes a government can be corrupt. Elected governments seldom are. Those that get into power via election (eg, Nazis) don't have 'more elections' high on the agenda. An unelected government, on the other hand, is a group powerful enough to enforce its laws without responsibility to the people over whom it holds that power. Such as, for example, a large business in the absence of some ultimate regulatory power or other.

Se yeah, I say that with 100% confidence. Of course, I'm only talking about democratically elected government. Sorry if you're disillusioned by the nature of the political machine, but since you're always going to be under the rule of whichever person can kill you the easiest, it's to your benefit that that happens to be someone who wouldn't profit from it.

As somebody who actively speaks out against the current government, and actively encourages civil disobedience, I strongly disagree -- the government would definitely profit from my death.

 

[thevillageidiot13]

I dislike the American government because of the fact that Obama's healthcare plan is being ignored because it is "socialist". So only the rich and powerful can get healed without having to sell everything they own, while the common folk (i.e. me and everyone else who wasn't born with the silver spoon of Jesus Christ shoved up their ass) have to sacrifice an arm and a leg to fix an arm and a leg.

Well i dont have to sell everything i own for healthcare. and im definitely in teh have not category. I make less than 40K a year and support a family of 5. Definitely wasnt born with that mythical spoon you speak of either. Do a bit more research before you form your opinion. I pay 4200 a year for my health care and dont have to pay for anything save medications and then i only pay 5% of the cost on those. How is that selling an arm and a leg?

In BC, Canada, with an income bracket of less than 40K a year for a family of 5?

You'd pay exactly $96.80 per month.

That's $1,161.60 per year.

If you were a single person making just over 22K a year?

You'd pay $12.10 per month.

That's under $150 per year. That covers everything except dental.

Yes, even stuff like open heart surgery, chemotherapy, etc.

And yes, you can choose your own doctor.

No, you really don't have to wait that long.

And Alison would've been scheduled for surgery immediately.

...

Yep.

It's because we waste all of our money on outrageous things like the War on Terror and the War on Drugs, both of which are run by overzealous idiots who throw money at problems until they disappear.