Nearly 80% of Americans Distrust Government

[Athena]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nearly 80 percent of Americans say they do not trust the government to do what is right, expressing the highest level of distrust in Washington in half a century, according to a public opinion survey.

Only 22 percent of Americans say they trust the government "just about always" or "most of the time," according to the Pew Research Center survey released on Sunday.

Americans' trust in the federal government has been on a steady decline from a high of 73 percent during the Eisenhower administration in 1958, when the "trust" question was first posed in a national survey, the research center said.

~ Snip ~

Forty-three percent of Republicans, 50 percent of independents who lean Republican and 57 percent of those who agree with the Tea Party movement said the government presents a major threat to their personal freedom.

That compares with 18 percent of Democrats, 21 percent of independents who lean Democratic and 9 percent of those who disagree with the Tea Party movement.

More at link...

Look at the disparity between conservatives and liberals. Are conservatives paranoid, or are liberals oblivious?

[biteme]

Yeah well during the Eisenhower times the government officials and employees were under paid, now they get paid more than anyone else and have better benefits
So maybe the non government public feels they're just taking care of themselves and taking their tax dollars and just creating a better life for themselves

[Valasca]

As the saying goes, "Love my country, fear my government."

[Twisted]

My philosophy is as follows:

Where the people fear the government, a dictatorship will form.

Where the government fears the people, democracy will form.

We're definitely in the first part, by the way.

[backlash]

What's not to trust? Not like the Government would ever do anything unethical...like use the census to track down draft dodgers or something...

[Undeniable Truth]

Look at the disparity between conservatives and liberals. Are conservatives paranoid, or are liberals oblivious?

I wonder, conducted 4 years ago would the disparity in results not have swung quite the other direction?

[MichaelJCheaney]

Look at the disparity between conservatives and liberals. Are conservatives paranoid, or are liberals oblivious?

I think its both.

As I recall Nancy Pelosi, on inaugeration day stood up and pledged that this will be the most ethical congress ever.

-Since then Charlie Rangel has been accused of not paying taxes on his property in the Dominican Republic, while he was in charge of the Ways and Means committee. (Which writes the tax code)

Harry Reid has been involved in questionable land deals in Nevada.

Not to mention the fact that George Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld started an unpopular war.

The ongoing strip club fiasco that the GOP is battling right now, with Michael Steele.

The unpopular Health Care debate.

Ever rising taxes and Ballooning debt, that one day WILL come due.....

The arrogance of both parties.....I thin its fairly easy to see why we might have just a few trust issues....

Personally as a country when it comes to re-electing our politicians, we are no better than the battered women and men, who are constantly abused, but keep falling for the "But I won't do it again line"

And yet are surprised that we get hit, time after time!

[Pete Bondurant]

I know that the government is too incompetent to be oppressive. Anyway....I have guns and hand-grenades in my cabin.

[CadburyCremeGirl]

I have to agree with Micheal. But the truth of the matter is that we put these folks there(in both parties). Either by our making the wrong voting choice or not voting at all, we have doomed ourselves.


IOWs, political science should be just as important as science and math. It's obvious that some folks don't know what they are talking about. I mean, if you don't know how basic goverment works, you will naturally think that we are going through the worse section of politics ever.

Even a rudimentary education in this will remedy the arguments of the tea party.

[Pete Bondurant]

IOWs, political science should be just as important as science and math. It's obvious that some folks don't know what they are talking about. I mean, if you don't know how basic goverment works, you will naturally think that we are going through the worse section of politics ever.

Even a rudimentary education in this will remedy the arguments of the tea party.

The problem there is that most political science professors are outright communists. They make six figures and have teaching assistants do all of the work. They are living in the clouds. Indoctrination is not the same as education. Children/students need to learn about business and economics.

[CadburyCremeGirl]

The problem there is that most political science professors are outright communists. They make six figures and have teaching assistants do all of the work. They are living in the clouds. Indoctrination is not the same as education. Children/students need to learn about business and economics.

WTF Pete. My Poli Sci professor made a little bit more than what is the line for poverty in La. And you know what? He couldn't afford to have a TA. And the year(s) I took him, he never handed over the reins, even when sick. In fact, I think I was sick more than he was..but that's beside the point.

So I'm sorry to say Pete, but that wasn't indoctrination. Indoctrination is what I went through at the two churches that I rather forget about. So pete, I take that accusation as a point of offense. Once you've been brainwashed you tend to be able to see it in other things..and I just didn't see it in the guy.

He forced us to think, even when we came to a different conclusion than him. In fact, he was the reason why I wanted to go into politics..to prove that not all poli sci folks were not mindless drones for the communist party.
And to push the idea further, he was the furthest thing from a communist. He was a capitalist. He just believed in responsibility. I guess that's why he made sure to only teach the freshman and senior poli sci classes.

And I don't know where you went to school, but economics was forced at the school I went to. I liked it alright but I preferred Business Math.

That being said, I stick by my former comment. Poli Sci needs to be taught. If you don't know what your goverment is doing and how it is reaming you, you won't be able to make a stand for yourself or your family. If you don't know business you won't know how the store you're buying products from is reaming you too.

Pound for Pound, one is as important as the other Pete.

[Twisted]

I agree with CCG that Poli Sci needs to be taught, however I believe the current implementation of that teaching is fundamentally flawed.

The problem with Poli Sci classes, from my background, is that any state-funded education will inevitably bend favorably toward the state. In high school, I was only taught that communism would erode all personal rights and liberties, that fascism was a form of violent dictatorship, and that all anarchies are short-lived periods of chaos and war.

None of those are true, and all demonize, rather than accurately describe, alternate ESP (economic, social, and political) structures.

[CadburyCremeGirl]

The problem there is that most political science professors are outright communists. They make six figures and have teaching assistants do all of the work. They are living in the clouds. Indoctrination is not the same as education. Children/students need to learn about business and economics.

I agree with CCG that Poli Sci needs to be taught, however I believe the current implementation of that teaching is fundamentally flawed.

The problem with Poli Sci classes, from my background, is that any state-funded education will inevitably bend favorably toward the state. In high school, I was only taught that communism would erode all personal rights and liberties, that fascism was a form of violent dictatorship, and that all anarchies are short-lived periods of chaos and war.

None of those are true, and all demonize, rather than accurately describe, alternate ESP (economic, social, and political) structures.

O_o that's odd. I keep hearing stories like that, but I honestly think I went to a school that actually taught the text and not so much the opinions. But this was in college...and I was forced to read alot of things..like machivelli, some philiosphy folks(the philoshper king..someone we need to look forward to? dunno..) and some modern folks like John Locke.
But yeah, I agree with Twisted.

[Twisted]

I didn't receive much poli sci in college. Engineering doesn't really focus on it. All I got was from high school, and my own reading.

That said, I also never heard about Angel Island or Japanese Internment Camps in the US in my history classes. They glossed right over it while covering the wars against Germany, and how horrible Japan was for attacking Hawaii.

[CadburyCremeGirl]

I didn't receive much poli sci in college. Engineering doesn't really focus on it. All I got was from high school, and my own reading.

That said, I also never heard about Angel Island or Japanese Internment Camps in the US in my history classes. They glossed right over it while covering the wars against Germany, and how horrible Japan was for attacking Hawaii.

That's odd...I learned about that in honor's history class....when i hit the 12th grade. But my teacher was thought of as radical. He started the first day of class saying this:

If you expect me to teach history without being honest, leave now. History is written by the victors, to put themselves in the positive light while making the loser look like they were evil incarnate. This is the way of propoganda. Everything is a form of propaganda. The bible(pissed off christians), the quran, the fliers you get for products you may not need, and your history book. It gives only one side while damning the other.

At this time I was full on fundie, but could respect a man who had their own opinion. He started every class with "this day in history" and would talk about little tidbits that no one really even hit on in the history classes before his. When I hit college(I started off as an education major) I noticed all the history I had to take. Well, let's just say this..if you are able to take a history class in college, it is well worth it. Same thing for poli sci. It's weird how they cross-polinate each other!

[Twisted]

Well, they should definitely affect each other, since neither really can exist or be framed properly without the context of the other.

As for my high school, fundamentalism and patriotism reigned supreme, and those teachers who were thought to be "liberal" often suffered poor performance reviews.

[Athena]

In high school, I was only taught that communism would erode all personal rights and liberties, that fascism was a form of violent dictatorship, and that all anarchies are short-lived periods of chaos and war.

Are you sure you aren't remembering world history?