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pig · 06-13-2004, 06:59 PM

Man, I wish I had more time to post on this right now, but I don't. I'll have to come back later and see how the discussion fares. However, quickly I would like to throw out for consideration that I think that it's not only a mistrust of the American government, but a mistrust of all of the institutions of power existing - this would be the government, large business concerns and corporations, and other politico-sociological institutions such as the various religious instituations (I think respect for the Catholic Church has taken a little hit recently, for example). I think that one large reason contributing to this pervasive sense of distrust is attributable to the explosion in technology and the raw amount of access to information about individuals and control/access to their lives that never existed before. I think that this new age of Information Technology also gives the citizen a feeling of being deluged by information on all sides, such that he or she can not trust anything. There are no longer two sides to every story - there are ten. I think that we are in a period of adjustment, and that distrust is a natural reaction. I also think that a much larger portion of the American populace is educated than at any time in the past, and we are trained to question everything. I personally think this is a healthy attitude, but not the point that it makes you cold and cynical in every aspect of your life.

In short I would argue that a healthy distrust in our government is the responsibility of the American citizen, and although I don't have time to dig up quotes right now, I believe that I can find a number of them from Founding Fathers expressing just the same sentiments. I've been thinking about this a good bit since some of these Patriot Act threads kicked up. I guess I would essentially sum up a lot of things I would like to take the time to write with the old adage "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" and follow by saying that I think that most people have the feeling that our government has more power now than ever before. Whether this is true or not is another topic of debate, but everyone can see the Man over his shoulder.

06-13-2004, 06:59 PM	#35 (permalink)
pig pigglet pigglet Location: Locash	Man, I wish I had more time to post on this right now, but I don't. I'll have to come back later and see how the discussion fares. However, quickly I would like to throw out for consideration that I think that it's not only a mistrust of the American government, but a mistrust of all of the institutions of power existing - this would be the government, large business concerns and corporations, and other politico-sociological institutions such as the various religious instituations (I think respect for the Catholic Church has taken a little hit recently, for example). I think that one large reason contributing to this pervasive sense of distrust is attributable to the explosion in technology and the raw amount of access to information about individuals and control/access to their lives that never existed before. I think that this new age of Information Technology also gives the citizen a feeling of being deluged by information on all sides, such that he or she can not trust anything. There are no longer two sides to every story - there are ten. I think that we are in a period of adjustment, and that distrust is a natural reaction. I also think that a much larger portion of the American populace is educated than at any time in the past, and we are trained to question everything. I personally think this is a healthy attitude, but not the point that it makes you cold and cynical in every aspect of your life. In short I would argue that a healthy distrust in our government is the responsibility of the American citizen, and although I don't have time to dig up quotes right now, I believe that I can find a number of them from Founding Fathers expressing just the same sentiments. I've been thinking about this a good bit since some of these Patriot Act threads kicked up. I guess I would essentially sum up a lot of things I would like to take the time to write with the old adage "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" and follow by saying that I think that most people have the feeling that our government has more power now than ever before. Whether this is true or not is another topic of debate, but everyone can see the Man over his shoulder. __________________ You don't love me, you just love my piggy style