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Everyone has their own level of trust with the government - some trust it completely, others do not one bit, others are so-so
And even then they have their own reasons...
But for me? What do I see? I think it as natural to question those in authority. When one feels they have been lied to or injustices have occured that have not been brought to light, one begins to lose trust.
Watergate really lowered public trust in government - people realized they had been lied to. A glimpse at the tapes of Nixon revealed the real side of people running government. People then realized that there was more to it.
As for the U.S. general distrust of government - I think its a natural part of living in the U.S. Its true that much of its history has been in trust of the government, but, put it this way too - how much government was there back then?
Government has grown big in the last 50 years and indeed even efforts to cut it have only made it larger in the end. America was long founded on individualism and independence.
Simply put, living on a farm back then, one did not ever see the government. Maybe the mail once in a while, and most people were free of the government. Now that people have contact everyday with some insitution of government, one does begin to distrust those in power when one feels wronged or injusticed. Americans are naturally independent people and when they feel there are people controlling them, that rubs them the wrong way.
Well, at least that's my take... and yes I do support questioning the government to make sure its not corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. And, once the government takes power away from the people, it will NEVER relinquish it.
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