The evils of the government are directly proportional to the tolerance of the people.

Do you think people overreact to their government's actions, secrets, policies?
The government is meant to do what's RIGHT for the country and some people get that mixed up with what's GOOD. Small difference, but difference nonetheless.

 

Well, obviously people aren't too upset, otherwise we'd be seeing full-scale rebellion.

But aside from that, I think, sometimes, the government actually has the responsibility to keep things from us. For instance, what good will it do if every single American civilian knows the total number of dead in Iraq? What can they do about it? The military officers, the ones who have been trained to deal with this war, know what they're doing.

Other things, however, should be made more open - financial records, for instance. I don't know... I mean, regarding overreactions, that's more a fault of media exaggeration than actual government (although, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to study ducks under sprinklers isn't exactly a sound governmental move...).

And there I go, starting to ramble again... Sorry.

 

I actually would prefer for you to ramble. I want to hear EVERY single thing you think about it.

I agree with you somewhat. Somethings should be known to the general population. If we, the people, are the ones that suffer or benefit from the government's actions, we should know what they're doing.
But due to the ignorance of some citizens, somethings should be kept secret.
I wouldn't mind knowing, though, what the government is doing in secret, scientifically. That way we can make sure they're working on things they need to be working on.

 

I think the problem is that people don't know everything before voting for someone. Then things aren't so great anymore and the claim to have been lied to when, really, the never knew anything to begin with.

 

I actually agree with ^this. I am not all that surprised with all of the flaws of Our government. I do agree that they shouldn't hide so many secrets from the nation but I do understand that some of these secrets are for the protection of National Security but that is a different topic.

Anyways, I also agree with childofturin, because if there are so many things wrong with the government and people don't like it, why don't they protest and start a rebellion? It is because there aren't enough secrets and flaws for them to rebel against.​

 

I do think most people overreact. Most don't understand that certain decisions have to be made to keep stability with the kind of world we live in today. They try and make the government seem like the villain when they have no idea what they themselves would do when placed with difficult decisions. However I don't put all the blame on civilians, because, generally, most don't get their facts right.

^great statement

 

We have the news media to blame for that - when they're not blowing celebrities way out of proportion, they're overreacting to every minor government scandal that happens. All the news stations care about is ratings. They no longer care about simply telling is what happens - now they have to make us scared for our lives and freedoms every time a senator sleeps with the wrong woman or some such.

 

That's just the society we live in today. A lot of people don't actually care. They want to be trapped in the bubble the media keeps us in. It's our jobs as individuals to seek out the information instead of relying on other people to give us one side of the story or as you said, their overreactions to every government scandal.

 

I also agree with this, and also, people who oppose government officals don't know how hard/stressful their job as proof, if you look at presidents photo's before and after their term, it looks like they have aged a lot, all because of stress

 

I believe that all information relating to the government, members of parliament and actions taken on behalf or by Government officials should be disclosed to the public. I believe this because the Government is supposed to be for the people, by the people. If it's hiding information, it can influence the next election so the government is no longer by the people. The only solution is to have it entirely above board.

What's the harm in the public knowing about the government's actions? None, unless the government goes against the people's wishes, in which case they will be voted out. This is just the normal course of events, but at the moment we rely on slander wars such as the tactics used on and by Palin. Is that really a more effective tactic?

Taxpayers have a right to know where their cash is going. No one likes paying taxes, but no one likes paying taxes even less if they find out that they are paying for all government air flights. If the public has to pay taxes then they should know what they have bought, not have their money spent unknowingly on nuclear bombs or idiotic research.

 

The harm occurs when the government starts releasing information that the people can't do a thing about. For instance, in Vietnam, the US military won every single battle. Not once did the north Vietnamese kill more than they lost. HHowever, because the news media plastered the deaths of every single soldier all over the news, to the general public, who is completely unprepared to deal with death, the people decided that they no longer wanted any part in a "losing" war, even though we were winning. Hell, if that had happened in WWII, Germany would now rule Europe, and probably more.

Basically, the American public is unprepared to deal with certain governmental issues, like war. They don't need to know about every single death right when it happens. I mean, full disclosure after the war ends is just fine. Then they have a right to know.

 

It really depends on the governement system in power.
For a democratic society, where the will of the people is considered highest, then the government must abide by that conduct. What the people vote for and want then that is what they should get for better or worse. However, many Democratic governments do what they believe is best, and not the peoples will, a clear difference in what they are implementing, and what they are supposed to be implementing.

It bothers me that no form of government is able to do what it originally set out to be. Democracy, Communism, Feudalism, etc. I t makes it hard to believe that we can trust in the governemnt if it can't even keep in it's own guidelines and rules.

 

People do overreact because my class at school will be like "Obama's middle name is a terrorist's last name!!!!"

 

What is right for the country? You would think that it would be to benefit the country as a whole in the world, but the term "By the people, with the people, for the people" (or something close) comes to mind.