> It's a failing of the American condition. The country was founded by radical conspiracy theorist farmers that didn't want to pay taxes. Distrusting government

> It's a failing of the American condition. The country was founded by radical conspiracy theorist farmers that didn't want to pay taxes. Distrusting government is in our national ethos. Not true at all. Distrust of government is a relatively new phenomenon in American politics. It can be traced back to Reagan's infamous "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help" quote. This is because Reagan strictly believed in small government, and wanted to limit government interference in most things. Before Reagan, Americans had no issues trusting government to solve big problems or accomplish major goals. See the Space Race, and Roosevelt's New Deal policies two decades before that. American people were largely optimistic about those endeavors because they trusted their government.