Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

[anunitu]

Not to be anti-government,just seems like some of the Government is acting like the Marx brothers on certain matters.

So,just your opinions on the state of the State.

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Want to add an apology here to the Marx Brothers,cause it was their JOB to be funny and stuff.

[thalassa]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

I don't think this is an easy question to answer. The government is just people. How much do I trust people? Which people? What am I trusting them with? Why am I trusting them?

I trust that most people (whether working in the government or not) attempt to do their job on most days to the at least minimum acceptable level of competence up to the level of their ability and/or training. Some go above and beyond...others do not. In many cases, the government has tons of regulations as to what that training and what those procedures should be so that the minimum acceptable level of comptence is adequate enough to get the job done relatively safely and reasonably efficiently. Some of those regulations make it difficult to fire people that perhaps should be fired (but they also protect others--I'd guess just as many--from some of the BS firings that happen outside the government--for race, religion, sexual orientation, retribution, etc).

But people are people. They aren't perfect, they make mistakes, and we've cut so many budgets to the point where people are undertrained, underexperienced, and there's been a huge loss of institutional memory due to reductions-in-force, furloughs (causing people to leave for other jobs), and the simple fact that most of the federal gov't is nearing retirement age. And when A PERSON in the government (or people, plural) make a mistake, its not This Person effed up, or even this agency made a mistake, its interpreted as The Whole Tamale is completely effed up and sucks and we'd be better off without it...instead of saying "hey, Jeff made a boo boo and Bob didn't catch it in time". Inefficiencies happen in any system--its high school physics applied to business...and the more complicated and large a process, the more points for inefficiencies that come into the system. That's just the nature of the beast.

The alternative is going back to a time where murderers could easily go free because there was no system of medical examiners chosen on the basis of merit and training. When people took the law into their own hands because there was no one to stop them from lynching their neighbor. To a time where rats and body parts were regularly part of the food you ate. Where cosmetics weren't regulated, or medicines, and you could easily go blind applying mascara and kill your kid giving them cough syrup. When far more people were jobless, starving, and exploited, living in cramped, unsafe and unsanitary tenement houses. Where children and women could be abused without impunity. To a place where a worker had no expectation of safety, or reasonable expectation that if they got sick or injured on the job that they would have a job to return to or that their family could keep a roof over their head. Or that every child deserves to learn to read and has the opportunity to do better than their origins.

We are the government. How much do you trust yourself? Your brother? Your neighbor? Your doctor? The sketchy dude on the corner by the gas station? If you don't trust the government, if you can't trust the governement, then you should start in the mirror. I trust that people will do human things--that most of the time they will do what they are supposed to do as they are supposed to do it...and that sometimes things go wrong and shit happens. I don't take that as some giant betrayl, I take that as how the world works and then I get back to work to fix my little corner of it.

ETA: We elect the people that make the laws by which the governement operates, and the funding by which the governemental institutions are able to do their jobs. We've stripped the ability of agencies like those that oversee mining safety, workplace safety, water pollution, food safety, etc--both in funding and rewriting toothless legislation with loopholes big enough to drive a bus through. So when things fall through the cracks...maybe voters should start by choosing people that are more likely to put the government to work than keep them from working to the best of their ability.

[anunitu]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

As always Thal,insightful and thoughtful...

[nbdy]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

Yup, the two party system in the U.S. has created the false dichotomy that government is either (a) the problem or (b) the solution. Government is, of course, both and neither; rather, it is our best attempt at organizing society. The conversation I would love to be having and that no political candidate seems to want is what, exactly, we as a people need from the government and the best way to organize those activities. So, my opinion regarding the state of the state? I am concerned. I am concerned because people generally get the government they deserve and I find myself surrounded by so many people who are disengaged, narcissistic, ill-informed, or doctrinaire. A day of watching C-Span demonstrates that they are electing true representatives.

[anunitu]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

That is scary...we are getting just who we deserve......crawls back in my blanket tent to ponder if adults are really the ones that should be in charge...

[DanieMarie]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

I think Thal really hit the nail on the head.

We don't really trust the US government over here. Contrary to popular belief, this hasn't always been the case. Germans freaking LOVED the Americans after WWII (West Germans did, anyway). But, 30 years of terrible foreign policy have totally eroded that love and trust. People in Germany really liked Obama until the whole NSA thing happened and the phone-tapping scandal just made it worse. Now, there is zero trust in the US once again.

[Carlin]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

In my country we keep getting landed with governments that we didn't elect. I think there's something in the notion that those who seek power are the last people who ought to have it.

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

No one at all.

[Medusa]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

One way I do trust our government? To only think at the back of their mind about their own government and country. So when shit really goes down they are going to be selfish and hoard all the eggs. And I'm happy about that. I do not want a nice government. I do not want a government I can trust to not break human rights violations. I do not want a country that cares about anyone else except the government. And then tag along for the ride.

[MaskedOne]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

I trust the government to maintain status quo for better or worse until the people get off their asses and choose a path to take. Please don't ask if I trust the people.

[satanic witch]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

I don't like the government as it is now . I don't like how we have two party's cause its really hard to get things done , I don't like the way the police work but then again there a nessasry evil, I personally would rather live in a society with no government much the way the Indians did but more urbanized . Honestly I don't see the US government lasting much longer , history has shown that democracy is not the best government in the world or the longest lasting, and to me it just seems like the government doesn't know how to use money since we have had a depression and a ressesion and a government shutdown , but that is just my opinion , and don't get me wrong I love america just not the way its currently runned

[Torey]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

Our Prime Minister is a bit of a ding-bat. I struggle to "trust" anyone that he or his party have appointed to office. That being said, I honestly don't think that I could trust any government - or anyone in the government, regardless of what country it is.

[anunitu]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

I often wonder how all people feel about their governments,and I wonder why people seldom trust government. We should be able to feel confident about those that handle things that effect us directly every day. One thing that is always true,someone does have to keep order,someone has to keep the peace and control law and order.
I really don't know just how we can insure we have the absolute best people taking care of OUR business.

[Doc_Holliday]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

My towns mayor is a cool cat.

[satanic witch]

Re: Generally,who do you feel you can trust in the Government?

I often wonder how all people feel about their governments,and I wonder why people seldom trust government. We should be able to feel confident about those that handle things that effect us directly every day. One thing that is always true,someone does have to keep order,someone has to keep the peace and control law and order.
I really don't know just how we can insure we have the absolute best people taking care of OUR business.

I agree with this , main reason I don't trust governments cause if a mistakes going to be made that effects me I'd rather it be because of me or my fault and I prefer to fix problems my self.