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Americans do not trust that the government has their best interests in mind, ergo Americans do not want to have their money taken away from them to pay for gove

by jjawssd 10y ago

Americans do not trust that the government has their best interests in mind, ergo Americans do not want to have their money taken away from them to pay for government programs.

delinka 10y ago
And, as evidenced by the actions of our Republican and Democratic party legislators, by the NSA and FBI ... the US government does not have my best interests in mind.
- huherto 10y ago
  The government doesn't have a single mind. Every agency has different goals and motivations. Sometimes they are even contradictory. We can choose where we want more government involvement and where we don't.
kwhitefoot 10y ago
Like roads, air traffic control, sewers, clean water, etc., etc.?
- briantakita 10y ago
  Yes, these systems that are mismanaged by bureaucrats & politics. It's not like our water is safe & people who wish to manage water on their own property are prosecuted by the state.
- jjawssd 10y ago
  You mean the roads which are crumbling (http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/road-infrastructure/ http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/road-infrastructure/), congested ATCs (http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/aviation/ http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/aviation/), and water systems with heavy metal contamination with our drinking water infrastructure nearing the end of its useful life (http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/water-infrastructure/ http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/water-infrastructure...)?
Koshkin 10y ago
A government, while being a necessity, is not to be trusted. The Founding Fathers understood that, and they made it clear to others. A government is a mechanism that is prone to deterioration over time, and it takes a substantial effort to keep it in a shape in which it protects people's interests rather than its own. Also, from the historical prospective, governments are the ones who are responsible for most killings of people on a large scale. How, then, can an intelligent person trust a government?
- chronial 10y ago
  > How, then, can an intelligent person trust a government? Because that's just the better option. Somebody is always going to gather a lot of power with a big organization. The choice you get is between an organization whose purpose is to serve the masses (democratic goverment) and organizations whose purpose is to serve very elites (corporations, organized crime). Regarding your specific point regarding killing people: I think you are oversimplifying here. With the opium wars and the subsequent flooding of china with opium, British trading companies probably already firmly hold the record for killing people on a large scale. For more recent examples, I would point towards the commercial part of the US Industrial-Military complex. But yes, the government is then frequently instrumentalized to do the actual killing. I would assume this to become harder the stronger and more democratic a government is.

by jjawssd 10y ago

Americans do not trust that the government has their best interests in mind, ergo Americans do not want to have their money taken away from them to pay for government programs.

delinka 10y ago

And, as evidenced by the actions of our Republican and Democratic party legislators, by the NSA and FBI ... the US government does not have my best interests in mind.

huherto 10y ago
The government doesn't have a single mind. Every agency has different goals and motivations. Sometimes they are even contradictory. We can choose where we want more government involvement and where we don't.

kwhitefoot 10y ago

Like roads, air traffic control, sewers, clean water, etc., etc.?

briantakita 10y ago
Yes, these systems that are mismanaged by bureaucrats & politics. It's not like our water is safe & people who wish to manage water on their own property are prosecuted by the state.
jjawssd 10y ago
You mean the roads which are crumbling (http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/road-infrastructure/ http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/road-infrastructure/), congested ATCs (http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/aviation/ http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/aviation/), and water systems with heavy metal contamination with our drinking water infrastructure nearing the end of its useful life (http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/water-infrastructure/ http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/water-infrastructure...)?

Koshkin 10y ago

A government, while being a necessity, is not to be trusted. The Founding Fathers understood that, and they made it clear to others. A government is a mechanism that is prone to deterioration over time, and it takes a substantial effort to keep it in a shape in which it protects people's interests rather than its own. Also, from the historical prospective, governments are the ones who are responsible for most killings of people on a large scale. How, then, can an intelligent person trust a government?

chronial 10y ago
> How, then, can an intelligent person trust a government? Because that's just the better option. Somebody is always going to gather a lot of power with a big organization. The choice you get is between an organization whose purpose is to serve the masses (democratic goverment) and organizations whose purpose is to serve very elites (corporations, organized crime). Regarding your specific point regarding killing people: I think you are oversimplifying here. With the opium wars and the subsequent flooding of china with opium, British trading companies probably already firmly hold the record for killing people on a large scale. For more recent examples, I would point towards the commercial part of the US Industrial-Military complex. But yes, the government is then frequently instrumentalized to do the actual killing. I would assume this to become harder the stronger and more democratic a government is.