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Monday, October 19, 2009
Political Theories
State and justify your own reaction to the author's contention that mistrust of government in the United States isn't really as severe as it is sometimes thought to be.
I agree with this authors opinion. Sure there are people that mistrust the government, but it's not always severely. There is the occasional crazy hippie guy that goes all out with conspiracies and such but the average person doesn't mistrust the government so severely. While you have those who mistrust the government for small reasons, you also have those people who fully trust the government and will go along with it no matter what. Just because there is a group of people that speak out against the governmet doesn't mean that the whole nation is severely against it. All mistrust towards the government is counteracted by someone else who is 100% for it so the assumed severity of the peoples mistrust is usually over what it really is because they do not consider all aspects of some situations. Government officials panic and feel the whole world is against them so they act accordingly. This is why that misconception exists.
I do not agree with the author. Those who mistrust the government do so because of outside factors. The average citizen is not well educated on the many aspects of the national government, and mostly gains his or her knowledge based on what he or she watches on television. The media focuses much attention on political scandals and corruption, and does not focus as much on the beneficial factors of government. Scandals such as Anthony weiner's photographs and Arnold Schwarzenegger's affair have been widely published, and caused citizens to mistrust the government because the media, in some sense, teaches us to associate the governemt with scandal. Furthermore, large scale protests, such as the Occupy Wall Street Protest, would not take place if the average citizen fully trusted the government's decisions. Throughout history many uprisings, such as Shay's Rebellion, against the government have occured mainly based on unfair treatment by the government.
I would tend to disagree with the author. I, like Katrine, believe that protests like Occupy Wall Street would not occur if people completely trusted the government. The reason why people protest is because they feel that the government is not doing their job right and that change needs to be implemented. I also disagree because every time a catastrophe happens, there are always people out there who are quick to blame the government. For example, the swine flu epidemic caused many people to believe that the government was behind it and that it was trying to decrease the population. In addition, 9/11 also forced people to believe that the government is to be mistrusted and that they knew Al Qaeda would attack us. If you look at history, there is evidence that shows that many people did not always trust the government. Many people believe Pearl Harbor could have been avoided and that the government used it as a reason to enter World War II. Also, many people did not trust the government when it came to the Vietnam War and believed there was no direct cause for involvement. Overall, I believe that there will always be much mistrust with the government and large amounts of people will always protest the things that it does.
I believe that for the most part, people trust the government. America is in fact the most patriotic country and therefore most citizens trust our government. In my opinion, I agree with the statement that if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Our country has lasted for over 200 years on the same constitution and type of government. Yes, there is the occasional protest against the government on small details that people don't agree with. However, the general policies that are government stands by are in consent with most people. Even the most radical liberal would not dare change our bill of rights or even our constitution. With tradition comes reliability and if our country is to thrive we must trust certain aspects of government that have existed for such long periods of time.
Americans do for the most part trust their government. Especially in times of crisis, people look to their government for guidance. There comes times when people disagree with the government's actions, for example, the Occupy Wallstreet protests. The protests have in turn spread across the country, showing many people share their opinion. Though there are people who do not trust the government, I agree with the author when he says that it is not so severe, because of the strong nationalsm that our country has.
I agree with the author that the mistrust in the government is not as severe as some think it is. I do believe some people do have mistrust towards the government but i don't believe that the majority of people have mistrust. There are defiantly some conspiracy ideas about the federal government, like the ones shown in the " National Treasure" series but those are just theories that someone has imagined. If the overwhelming amount of people did not trust the government the nationalism in America would not be as higher than the nationalism in Europe. Also having a democracy the people of the United States have some what of say in what goes on. The reason that mistrust exists is because they feel like they are not benefit. However, the mistrust that exists is due to a few people being outspoken. I believe however that the people of the United States trust the government because they feel like they have benefited from it.
USA Politics is right that Occupy Wall Street does show that there is mistrust in the government. However, Occupy Wall Street is a small portion of the population. Also this doesn't prove that there is mistrust in American government because there are different Occupy Wall Street actions going on throughout the world, so it would show that there is mistrust in most governments but not from the majority of the people.
I agree with the author's opinion. In the U.S. there are many people that mistrust in the government for their own reasons, but there are people that believe in the government greatly. Many citizens are influenced by the media and have their opinions formed or changed by it. The people are more focused with scandals and corruption rather than the beneficial factors of the government and/or the important issues which need attention. Sure, there are many that disagree or look down upon the government's actions and decisions but that does not necessary mean that everyone mistrusts the government. The average citizens are not educated enough to understand certain aspects of politics and usually goes along with the few that do or whatever the media displays. The level of trust for the government vary from person to person and the government generally try to get people to understand their decisions and create trust. However, this can lead to others to feel indifferent and think that the government is being deceptive to win people over. In the US, there are definitely those that mistrust the government, but it is not at the severity where the people would want to cause a rebellion and overthrow the government.
I definitely agree with the author's opinion. Mistrust of government, although out there, is not severe. Severe means that a majority of the population mistrusts the government. But this is not the case. Protests such as Occupy Wall Street are examples of how people mistrust the government, but only a small portion of people do so. Popular conspiracy theories surrounding the evils of our government are not even reaching the average citizen. Therefore, the average citizen does not mistrust the government severely. If we severely mistrusted the government, not only would we be willing to change but we’d be in the process of changing by overthrowing the government. Our nationalism and patriotism rate wouldn’t be as high as it is today, and
I disagree with the author's opinion because there will always be conspiracy theorists who believe that the government is out to get them, and these groups can sometimes be very persuasive as to cause others to react. These conspiracy theorists are usually very radical and want change of unreasonable proportion. Even though patriotism is very high so is doubtfulness. These people will make up stories and excuses for what happened in order for them to blame the government. This can be shown when 9/11 occurred some people went as far as to say that the government was directly responsible for this attack. They stirred up some "evidence" and began pointing fingers and blaming the government. These people can sometimes even be very dangerous. Since people don't like to think about any thing bad or unfortunate they do not pay attention to conspiracy guys and how many of them there actually are. So even though there is a high percentage of people who are proud of there country there is an equal amount of people who distrust it also.
I do not agree with the author's belief that mistrust in the government is not severe in the United States. When scandals or crises happen that concern the United States, the media has the ability to blow it out of proportions to have what "sells". People tend to believe the media exactly as seen. Even if the government is only in minor trouble, the media can build mistrust within the people. Also, when one group of people start voicing their opinions against the government, they might not be able to get people to agree with them. But they can get them to think, which can lead to mistrust.
When it comes to the mistrust of the people towards the government I would have to disagree with the assessments made by the author. In reality I don’t think everyone really trusts the government I mean it’s easy to say we do by abiding by their laws and regulations. But at the same time I think everyone has some level of doubt in the respect that we all don’t necessarily agree with what the government is doing. There are definitely some faults with in our system of government as everyone in the country holds different political views in topics like how involved the government should be and if its ok for the rights of citizens to be invaded for the good of America. But even these issues have its faults as people often take advantage of the government by stealing money from food stamps or asking for financial aid because of the lack of job availability when in reality these people don’t plan on even looking for a job. Not only that but the fact that people constantly protest against some of the things that the government does proves the level of mistrust we as a nation have on the government. I definitely agree with katrine in the respect that the media definitely causes people to gain some level of mistrust on the government through scandals. We’re so focused at times about the personal levels of our government officials that we forget about the really important issues. As a result we tend to judge the government on the things we don’t know which creates some level of mistrust based on the lack of understanding gained from its citizens. When ever something goes wrong we always tend to blame the government which is why I believe people mistrust the government or we wouldn’t blame them for things that aren’t necessarily their fault all the time.
People trust the government. I also agree with the statement, ‘that if it isn't broke, don't fix it.’ Our country is considered a patriotic country in which the citizens trust the government. It is the longest continuous democratic country. The United States withstood crisis and protected the citizens. For this the citizens honor our country and look to the government for guidance. The level of trust in the government varies between people. Some people disagree with the government’s decisions and protest. However, that is just a collision of opinions not necessarily a mistrust in the government itself. There is also a massive population in the United States, meaning that 1,000 people in protest seems like a lot of people but in truth it is about .00001% of the people in the whole nation. Author states that our country has strong nationalism and the mistrust in the government is not severe.
I agree with the author’s view that mistrust of government in the United States isn't really as severe as it is sometimes thought to be. I believe that a large portion of the population feels that it is important to have a strong government in order for the country to be successful. As a result, if something goes wrong, people first put the blame on the government, criticizing it negatively. However, in times of crisis, a majority of citizens turn to the government to help deal with the issue at hand. Therefore, I do not think that mistrust of government is actually a big problem in our country. The small portion of the population that actually does not trust the government is overridden by the strong sense of nationalism.
I disagree with the author; I believe many people today do not trust the government and that it is a severe problem. Recent public opinion polls have given Congress and the President the lowest rate of approval they have had in decades. Many people are very fed up with government and believe that the representatives are not fulfilling their required duties. People are out of work and feel it is the government's responsibility to create jobs, which it is not doing well enough. There is a danger of another economic recession, which the government should do more to prevent. Protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street and the spread of similar movements across the country show the dissent people have with the current government.
I beleive that people always feel some form of trust in the government. Like the author says, while some people may not necessarily trust government officials, they always have faith in the governmental structure itself. People have faith that the American government will always, in a way, work itself out. While we may not have faith in specific political figures, we do have faith in the democracy this country was built upon.
I believe that the majority of people trust the government. I mean sometimes powers are abused and the government might take advantage of us and we might take advantage of them. But for the most part the government helps us and keeps us in check. America is known to be the most patriotic. We sometimes may protest against what some individuals might feel is right but that okay because not everybody is going to agree on every issue. And the protesting allows us to adjust and make compromises to satisfy the people if what they want is backed up upon logical reasons. A few might mistrust the government but it's not that severe because our patriotism and nationalism will persevere.
According to historical records, the United States government has been prone to pursue the right actions for its people. Through the system of the checks and balances, as well as the separation of powers, the United States government promotes uniform sovereignty for its people. Therefore, the people of the United States have tended to hold faith within their government [As Blogger94 had said]. However, external factors have influenced the people of the United States to mistrust the United States government. As the author declared, the degree of mistrust of the government in the United States is presumed to be more severe than it is. Furthermore, the media exaggerate circumstances, such as the Abu Ghraib military scandal. During this incident, the United States military tormented Iraqi prisoners by indecent exposure, sexual harassment, and physical torture. The soldiers, who tormented these Iraqis, underwent trial. However, the media embellished the case. Thus, this amplification caused mistrust in the American military by the United States. Additionally, the bi-polarity of the government embroiders mistrust of the government. For instance, the campaign process throughout elections demonstrates a candidate’s will to speak ill of another candidate in order to promote his beliefs. A candidate will have individuals who agree with his ethics. Thus, those individuals who disagree with his beliefs do not trust the other ideas of the opposing candidate. Therefore, the subjectivity of each candidate causes advocates of each candidate to be wary of their adversaries. Hence, I believe the harshness of mistrust of the government is exaggerated, rather than true. Through external factors as the media or subjective campaigns, the government is perceived to be more distrusting than it is.
Peoples opinions on politics and government come from sources around them such as family, race, religion, and a big one is media. I disagree with the author in his belief that the mistrust toward the government is not severe, because every small problem the government does is notifies in the media which in turn is then portrayed in society opinions. Just like there are paparazzi seeking out every celebrity flaw, there is media seeking out leaked information or flaws within the government. I do not exactly agree that the government always does what is best for the people, but the majority of trust and opinion toward the government derives from an individuals surroundings and media.
I believe their is some mistrust in our government especially with the economic crisis occurring now. However, i do not believe it is as severe as the author makes it out to be. For the most part, the people realize the importance of our government and the help and aid it provides in our daily lives. I do believe that it appears that the people mistrust the government because the media frantically covers any protest or rally against the government while also covering a lot of political scandals. This type of media adds to the misconception that most people do not trust the government. However, if this was true, the people would have implemented an uprising against the political system.
I do not agree with the author's contention that mistrust of government in the United States isn't really as severe as it is sometimes thought to be. It is severe that the people of America do not trust our government. Throughout history, the people of America have changed their view on the government, and over the last ten years or so, many people lost faith in the government. The veiw of the government is effected greatly by outside influences, such as race, religion, and media. Without the trust of the people in our government, the United States cannot be as strong as they have the potential to be. During the different presidencies, the faith in government has changed. This shows that the people of America may not have trusted the governmental officials. Also, I agree with Katrine Ryeng-Pezzillo's response to the author's convention. I agree that if more people believed in government than large scale protests, like Occupy wall Street, would not be happening. Also, I agree with her that media plays a large role in how people in the United States feel towards our governmental officials and the nation's government.
I agree with the author that mistrust in the government in the United States isn't really severe. There are definitely people who mistrust the government, but it never becomes really severe. In my point of view, I think a majority of Americans trust the government. If they didn't, our country would probably be in chaos right now. Everyone would be protesting against the government but it is very clear that this isn't happening right now. Occupy Wall Street may be a protest against the American government but the people involved in the protest make up only a small percentage of the United States population. A small percentage of people will hardly do any harm. Also, the United States is a democratic nation, which means that we, the people have a say in government. If you mistrust the government, that means you are basically mistrusting other Americans to some extent.
The government influences a significant portion of our lives. It does not control our lives, but the influence is strong. Therefore, mistrust of the government is severe because not all Americans wish to be influenced by the government. In terms of law, yes, but in terms of politics and the economy, the government does not receive the complete trust of the people. The immense effect personal perspectives and the media has on the people is immeasurable. Everyday, a new idea or plan is brought onto television, causing further debate and commotion. This debate that naturally occurs in politics reflects in the people's trust of the government. The more debate and talks there are, the less the people trust the government. These debates and commotions cause the people of America to feel the government is uncertain in its plan of action. Instead of having sympathy for the government in times of crisis, it is human nature to develop a greater mistrust of the government.
I disagree with the author's assertion. Though there are many groups of people in America who both support and mistrust government, it still stands that a large fraction of modern Americans distrust government. Statistics show that between the 1950's and the 1990's the percentage of citizens who did not trust government officials to look out for them doubled. This may, perhaps, be due to the fact that in the 1960's the national government began to become more involved in local matters. This could have led to American citizens expecting more out of goverment and becoming disillusioned when they felt goverment never followed through on their wishes in the following years. Or perhaps this could be due to citizens feeling that government had become overbearing and thus not to be trusted. Or maybe the statistic of people who did trust the goverment was abnormally high for any large nation in the 1950's and it was to be expected that it would decline (due to people expecting more of the goverment than they had in the past because of American's growth into a superpower). Regardless of reasoning, however, it still stands that many Americans today mistrust government officials.
I disagree with the author's opinion. I believe that Americans do mistrust the government and it is more severe than what the author believes. If the author believes that the government is mistrusted by the people is not severe, then the government would not receive support from Americans. For example, take a look at "Occupy Wall Street"; the people are unhappy with what the government is doing to help big businesses.
Msjority of Americans trust the government. Though there are some things that I'm sure every American wishes they could change, I do not think that there is a major conflict in the US concerning mistrust of the government. Also, as others have mentioned,the people who do not trust the government typically don't due to personal reasons. According to the text, most past political mistrust was caused by citizens dislike towards the government officials rather than the government itself. Today, many Americans have a strong sense of nationalism for everything in this country- the government is not an exception.
I disagree with what the author is saying. Yes, there are people who do trust the government, but more people know that there are things that the government is doing that they aren't telling us, and this alone causes people not to trust the government. Then when you have political figures that are not doing their jobs properly to a point where their popularity rating is below 20%, it causes people to lose trust and faith in these figures. Also, people tend to not trust politicians with views different than their own. They feel more comfortable having someone with their views in office. I also agree with USA Politics about the Wall Street Protest. Why would people be protesting about the FED if they completely trusted everything they were doing? They wouldn't. They don't trust the FED and its policies, and they are trying to prove their point by protesting.
I agree with the authors statement that the mistrust of government in the United States isn't really as severe as it is sometimes thought to be. In the 1950s the United States had an abnormally high level of confidence in the government. The citizens of the United States did not expect much of there government. Since they felt this way, it was very difficult for them to be upset by the governments actions. The government is expected to take care of many more things now. They deal with civil rights, crime, illegal drugs, the environment, the role of women, highway safety and etc. Domestic turmoil, urban riots, a civil rights revolution, the war in Vietnam, economic inflation, and a concern for the environment, increased what we expected Washington to do. When the government does not fix every problem we are having, people start to loose trust. However i do not believe that this is as severe as it is sometimes thought to be.
I agree with the authors opinion. In no way will all people agree on the same thing. Some people mistrust the government just as some people trust the government. All people have different beliefs, and this government has withstood the United Staters for hundreds of years, so why change it? Just because some people come up with theories going against the government, that at times, can seem considerably true, have no factual background to even be proven. Take 9/11 for example; you can search 9/11 conspiracies on youtube and thousands of videos will come up saying that the government sent the planes into the buildings and also set up bombs throughout the building to make it collapse. It is totally irrational and just because some crazy people decide to come up with these theories doesn't mean we should change something that has been working for so long. In response to Joe Manzi, I agree with what he is saying, if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Just because government officials do wrong occasionally does not mean we should abandon the government that has been working for as long as we exist.
I agree with the author, i think that for the most part Americans do trust their government. Most of the time, people look to the government for assistance and the right answers. Things like Occupy Wallstreet show that there are times when people disagree with the government..however, this is not mistrusting. There will always be mistrust in some decisions in which the government makes...but it might not necessarily be to the severity stated.
I agree with the author. I do because I believe that most people in the United States does trust our government. I don't think a lot of people mistrust the government. I think if we didn't trust our government we wouldn't be the country we are today. To get where we are today people need to have faith and trust in the government. People in the United States look for help and solutions from the governemnt. Of course there are some people who misttrust the government and it's because everyone has different ideas. It is not a large amount though. I think if there was a large amount of people who didn't trust the government there would be many more problems than there already are.
I agree with the author's opinion that the mistrust of the government is not as severe as it is thought to be. Despite the presence of some rejection towards the actions of our government, it is safe to say that the majority of U.S. citizens do in fact trust the government with the decisions that they make. Sure, there might be people who stand against the acts of the government and speak out in order to convey their opinion; but as far as severity goes a great percentage of the resentments aimed at the government are relatively minor. I am not rejecting the existence of prolific outbursts in a political sense; but generally the ones that do occur are small and do not have a large effect on society. For the most part, U.S. citizens are highly nationalistic and patriotic for this nation. I agree with Chris Mohr because though people may not like the officials in office, they will still trust the documents, laws, and guidelines that this country is founded upon; and under times of crisis they can have faith that the problems evident will be resolved.
I agree with the author's opinion, because while there are always going to be people who don't trust the government, most are not the radical type to use violence or other means to get there points across. While there are people who don't trust the government for small reasons, like taxes or maybe one or two laws, you rarely get protestors like on wall street. There are rarely people who severly mistrust the government because most people cannot look at a policy from all angles, and see what it is actually trying to do. These people may not agree with the government because the law doesnt help them in any way, but it can help someone else.
I completely disagree with the author. I think it is more severe than we let ourselves believe. people mistrust the government because of the things the government does or don't do. For example, if you look at the country's money situation, you wouldn't really want to trust the government. Many, including me, believe that the government doesn't know how to use money the right way. we are billions in debt to China because of this. plus if people really trusted the government, protesters wouldn't be occupying wall street for the past month. I personally believe that the government can't be trusted on everything. It's not that the government can't be trusted, it's more the people running the government.
I agree with the author's opinion because for all the mistakes that were made in government, such as Watergate Scandal and the Vietnam war, there were many positives that came from the nation. America has the capabilities so long as there are qualified people in charge, such as bringing America out of the Great Depression and allowing our nation to become of the largest traders. Our nation was the first to have a written Constitution which remains viable to this day. I do agree with Jo-Ann on how the media portrays news, but times such as 9/11 prove that Americans do show support for their nation.
I agree with the author’s opinion that the citizens of the United States exaggerate the mistrust of government in the United States. It is not as severe as it is thought to be. For the most part, U.S. citizens do trust their government. For instance, if something bad were to occur in our country, most citizens would turn toward the government for guidance on how to handle the situation. With that being said, in my opinion I think most of the mistrust comes from the percentage of people who do not like the government based on maybe one law that these people disagree with. I agree with Jessica Giangrande on the fact that there will always be a small group who protest a certain issue. However, they will not have a large effect on society. Likewise, I believe myself that most Americans are very nationalistic. In my opinion, most citizens trust the government and the documents and laws it creates. They do not trust the people running the government though.
I agree with the author as he believes that mistrust of government in the United States isn't really as severe as it is sometimes thought to be. Yes, there are people who do not put their faith in the government, but if American citizens severely mistrusted the government our nation would fall apart. Not only would we be in midst of changing what we “mistrust” but we would not have such a great amount of nationalism. People often look to the government for support and guidance through times of severe crisis such as September 11, 2001. The protestors in the Occupy Wall Street movement apparently mistrust the government, but they are not the majority of the nation. If the mistrust of government in the United States was severe, we would not be the most patriotic nation worldwide.
I agree with the author, that the mistrust in the government is not as severe as some think it is. It is normal for the trust in government to fluctuate. However by the end of the day, people live in america because they are some-what satisfied with the government. Therefore, this means that people do trust the government to some extent. There may always be some sort of mistrust, but it is not as severe as some think it to be, or else there would be uprisings and rebellions against the government.
I agree with the author because some people do not trust the government. However, i believe that the preponderance of people do trust the government. In times of danger, the populace looks to the government for help and guidance. If people did not trust the government, then essentially nationalism would not exist. The average citizen does not mistrust the government severely or else there would be a likelihood of an "overthrown" democracy. I also agree with the statement , "if it isn't broken , don't fix it."
I agree with the author's opinion. Although many people mistrust the government, it is clearly not as severe as many other opinions make it out to be. If the government was as bad as some make it out to be, why aren't people moving away to different countries? America is the country people migrate to in order to escape the truly terrible and chaotic governments. I believe that people are always looking for someone to blame, or try to look into certain situations far more than what is really in front of them with all these conspiracy theories. Us American citizens should be grateful for the type of government we are accustomed to. Of course, no government is 100% perfect and mistakes do happen, but we could be far worse.
I agree with the author's opinion. Just because something bad happens occasionally, it does not mean we should mistrust the government. We live in a place with democracy - some mistakes are bound to be made. No one is perfect and no one can predict the future. Responding irrationally to an unpredictable situation is far worse than loathing our government. Democracy has worked since the birth of this nation and we shouldn't change it.
I agree with the author's opinion that the mistrust in government is not at all severe, though it does exist. Most people tend to trust the government. The occasional protests and so called rebellions that people participate are really just them trying to exercise their rights. Of course, in times of crisis, people have no where else to turn but the government. So it is to say, people do place their trust in their government, because who else to turn. Whoever holds conspiracies or actually mistrusts the government is simply just because they have the choice to. But when it comes down to it, our national government is the ultimate place to turn to and rely on.
42 comments:
I agree with this authors opinion. Sure there are people that mistrust the government, but it's not always severely. There is the occasional crazy hippie guy that goes all out with conspiracies and such but the average person doesn't mistrust the government so severely. While you have those who mistrust the government for small reasons, you also have those people who fully trust the government and will go along with it no matter what. Just because there is a group of people that speak out against the governmet doesn't mean that the whole nation is severely against it. All mistrust towards the government is counteracted by someone else who is 100% for it so the assumed severity of the peoples mistrust is usually over what it really is because they do not consider all aspects of some situations. Government officials panic and feel the whole world is against them so they act accordingly. This is why that
misconception exists.
I do not agree with the author. Those who mistrust the government do so because of outside factors. The average citizen is not well educated on the many aspects of the national government, and mostly gains his or her knowledge based on what he or she watches on television. The media focuses much attention on political scandals and corruption, and does not focus as much on the beneficial factors of government. Scandals such as Anthony weiner's photographs and Arnold Schwarzenegger's affair have been widely published, and caused citizens to mistrust the government because the media, in some sense, teaches us to associate the governemt with scandal.
Furthermore, large scale protests, such as the Occupy Wall Street Protest, would not take place if the average citizen fully trusted the government's decisions. Throughout history many uprisings, such as Shay's Rebellion, against the government have occured mainly based on unfair treatment by the government.
I would tend to disagree with the author. I, like Katrine, believe that protests like Occupy Wall Street would not occur if people completely trusted the government. The reason why people protest is because they feel that the government is not doing their job right and that change needs to be implemented.
I also disagree because every time a catastrophe happens, there are always people out there who are quick to blame the government. For example, the swine flu epidemic caused many people to believe that the government was behind it and that it was trying to decrease the population. In addition, 9/11 also forced people to believe that the government is to be mistrusted and that they knew Al Qaeda would attack us.
If you look at history, there is evidence that shows that many people did not always trust the government. Many people believe Pearl Harbor could have been avoided and that the government used it as a reason to enter World War II. Also, many people did not trust the government when it came to the Vietnam War and believed there was no direct cause for involvement. Overall, I believe that there will always be much mistrust with the government and large amounts of people will always protest the things that it does.
I believe that for the most part, people trust the government. America is in fact the most patriotic country and therefore most citizens trust our government. In my opinion, I agree with the statement that if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Our country has lasted for over 200 years on the same constitution and type of government. Yes, there is the occasional protest against the government on small details that people don't agree with. However, the general policies that are government stands by are in consent with most people. Even the most radical liberal would not dare change our bill of rights or even our constitution. With tradition comes reliability and if our country is to thrive we must trust certain aspects of government that have existed for such long periods of time.
Americans do for the most part trust their government. Especially in times of crisis, people look to their government for guidance. There comes times when people disagree with the government's actions, for example, the Occupy Wallstreet protests. The protests have in turn spread across the country, showing many people share their opinion. Though there are people who do not trust the government, I agree with the author when he says that it is not so severe, because of the strong nationalsm that our country has.
I agree with the author that the mistrust in the government is not as severe as some think it is. I do believe some people do have mistrust towards the government but i don't believe that the majority of people have mistrust. There are defiantly some conspiracy ideas about the federal government, like the ones shown in the " National Treasure" series but those are just theories that someone has imagined. If the overwhelming amount of people did not trust the government the nationalism in America would not be as higher than the nationalism in Europe. Also having a democracy the people of the United States have some what of say in what goes on. The reason that mistrust exists is because they feel like they are not benefit. However, the mistrust that exists is due to a few people being outspoken. I believe however that the people of the United States trust the government because they feel like they have benefited from it.
USA Politics is right that Occupy Wall Street does show that there is mistrust in the government. However, Occupy Wall Street is a small portion of the population. Also this doesn't prove that there is mistrust in American government because there are different Occupy Wall Street actions going on throughout the world, so it would show that there is mistrust in most governments but not from the majority of the people.
I agree with the author's opinion. In the U.S. there are many people that mistrust in the government for their own reasons, but there are people that believe in the government greatly. Many citizens are influenced by the media and have their opinions formed or changed by it. The people are more focused with scandals and corruption rather than the beneficial factors of the government and/or the important issues which need attention. Sure, there are many that disagree or look down upon the government's actions and decisions but that does not necessary mean that everyone mistrusts the government. The average citizens are not educated enough to understand certain aspects of politics and usually goes along with the few that do or whatever the media displays. The level of trust for the government vary from person to person and the government generally try to get people to understand their decisions and create trust. However, this can lead to others to feel indifferent and think that the government is being deceptive to win people over. In the US, there are definitely those that mistrust the government, but it is not at the severity where the people would want to cause a rebellion and overthrow the government.
I definitely agree with the author's opinion. Mistrust of government, although out there, is not severe. Severe means that a majority of the population mistrusts the government. But this is not the case. Protests such as Occupy Wall Street are examples of how people mistrust the government, but only a small portion of people do so. Popular conspiracy theories surrounding the evils of our government are not even reaching the average citizen. Therefore, the average citizen does not mistrust the government severely. If we severely mistrusted the government, not only would we be willing to change but we’d be in the process of changing by overthrowing the government. Our nationalism and patriotism rate wouldn’t be as high as it is today, and
I disagree with the author's opinion because there will always be conspiracy theorists who believe that the government is out to get them, and these groups can sometimes be very persuasive as to cause others to react. These conspiracy theorists are usually very radical and want change of unreasonable proportion. Even though patriotism is very high so is doubtfulness. These people will make up stories and excuses for what happened in order for them to blame the government. This can be shown when 9/11 occurred some people went as far as to say that the government was directly responsible for this attack. They stirred up some "evidence" and began pointing fingers and blaming the government. These people can sometimes even be very dangerous. Since people don't like to think about any thing bad or unfortunate they do not pay attention to conspiracy guys and how many of them there actually are. So even though there is a high percentage of people who are proud of there country there is an equal amount of people who distrust it also.
I do not agree with the author's belief that mistrust in the government is not severe in the United States. When scandals or crises happen that concern the United States, the media has the ability to blow it out of proportions to have what "sells". People tend to believe the media exactly as seen. Even if the government is only in minor trouble, the media can build mistrust within the people.
Also, when one group of people start voicing their opinions against the government, they might not be able to get people to agree with them. But they can get them to think, which can lead to mistrust.
When it comes to the mistrust of the people towards the government I would have to disagree with the assessments made by the author. In reality I don’t think everyone really trusts the government I mean it’s easy to say we do by abiding by their laws and regulations. But at the same time I think everyone has some level of doubt in the respect that we all don’t necessarily agree with what the government is doing.
There are definitely some faults with in our system of government as everyone in the country holds different political views in topics like how involved the government should be and if its ok for the rights of citizens to be invaded for the good of America. But even these issues have its faults as people often take advantage of the government by stealing money from food stamps or asking for financial aid because of the lack of job availability when in reality these people don’t plan on even looking for a job. Not only that but the fact that people constantly protest against some of the things that the government does proves the level of mistrust we as a nation have on the government.
I definitely agree with katrine in the respect that the media definitely causes people to gain some level of mistrust on the government through scandals. We’re so focused at times about the personal levels of our government officials that we forget about the really important issues. As a result we tend to judge the government on the things we don’t know which creates some level of mistrust based on the lack of understanding gained from its citizens. When ever something goes wrong we always tend to blame the government which is why I believe people mistrust the government or we wouldn’t blame them for things that aren’t necessarily their fault all the time.
People trust the government. I also agree with the statement, ‘that if it isn't broke, don't fix it.’ Our country is considered a patriotic country in which the citizens trust the government. It is the longest continuous democratic country. The United States withstood crisis and protected the citizens. For this the citizens honor our country and look to the government for guidance. The level of trust in the government varies between people. Some people disagree with the government’s decisions and protest. However, that is just a collision of opinions not necessarily a mistrust in the government itself. There is also a massive population in the United States, meaning that 1,000 people in protest seems like a lot of people but in truth it is about .00001% of the people in the whole nation. Author states that our country has strong nationalism and the mistrust in the government is not severe.
I agree with the author’s view that mistrust of government in the United States isn't really as severe as it is sometimes thought to be. I believe that a large portion of the population feels that it is important to have a strong government in order for the country to be successful. As a result, if something goes wrong, people first put the blame on the government, criticizing it negatively. However, in times of crisis, a majority of citizens turn to the government to help deal with the issue at hand. Therefore, I do not think that mistrust of government is actually a big problem in our country. The small portion of the population that actually does not trust the government is overridden by the strong sense of nationalism.
I disagree with the author; I believe many people today do not trust the government and that it is a severe problem.
Recent public opinion polls have given Congress and the President the lowest rate of approval they have had in decades. Many people are very fed up with government and believe that the representatives are not fulfilling their required duties. People are out of work and feel it is the government's responsibility to create jobs, which it is not doing well enough. There is a danger of another economic recession, which the government should do more to prevent. Protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street and the spread of similar movements across the country show the dissent people have with the current government.
I beleive that people always feel some form of trust in the government. Like the author says, while some people may not necessarily trust government officials, they always have faith in the governmental structure itself. People have faith that the American government will always, in a way, work itself out. While we may not have faith in specific political figures, we do have faith in the democracy this country was built upon.
I believe that the majority of people trust the government. I mean sometimes powers are abused and the government might take advantage of us and we might take advantage of them. But for the most part the government helps us and keeps us in check. America is known to be the most patriotic. We sometimes may protest against what some individuals might feel is right but that okay because not everybody is going to agree on every issue. And the protesting allows us to adjust and make compromises to satisfy the people if what they want is backed up upon logical reasons. A few might mistrust the government but it's not that severe because our patriotism and nationalism will persevere.
According to historical records, the United States government has been prone to pursue the right actions for its people. Through the system of the checks and balances, as well as the separation of powers, the United States government promotes uniform sovereignty for its people. Therefore, the people of the United States have tended to hold faith within their government [As Blogger94 had said]. However, external factors have influenced the people of the United States to mistrust the United States government.
As the author declared, the degree of mistrust of the government in the United States is presumed to be more severe than it is. Furthermore, the media exaggerate circumstances, such as the Abu Ghraib military scandal. During this incident, the United States military tormented Iraqi prisoners by indecent exposure, sexual harassment, and physical torture. The soldiers, who tormented these Iraqis, underwent trial. However, the media embellished the case. Thus, this amplification caused mistrust in the American military by the United States.
Additionally, the bi-polarity of the government embroiders mistrust of the government. For instance, the campaign process throughout elections demonstrates a candidate’s will to speak ill of another candidate in order to promote his beliefs. A candidate will have individuals who agree with his ethics. Thus, those individuals who disagree with his beliefs do not trust the other ideas of the opposing candidate.
Therefore, the subjectivity of each candidate causes advocates of each candidate to be wary of their adversaries.
Hence, I believe the harshness of mistrust of the government is exaggerated, rather than true. Through external factors as the media or subjective campaigns, the government is perceived to be more distrusting than it is.
Peoples opinions on politics and government come from sources around them such as family, race, religion, and a big one is media. I disagree with the author in his belief that the mistrust toward the government is not severe, because every small problem the government does is notifies in the media which in turn is then portrayed in society opinions. Just like there are paparazzi seeking out every celebrity flaw, there is media seeking out leaked information or flaws within the government. I do not exactly agree that the government always does what is best for the people, but the majority of trust and opinion toward the government derives from an individuals surroundings and media.
I believe their is some mistrust in our government especially with the economic crisis occurring now. However, i do not believe it is as severe as the author makes it out to be. For the most part, the people realize the importance of our government and the help and aid it provides in our daily lives. I do believe that it appears that the people mistrust the government because the media frantically covers any protest or rally against the government while also covering a lot of political scandals. This type of media adds to the misconception that most people do not trust the government. However, if this was true, the people would have implemented an uprising against the political system.
I do not agree with the author's contention that mistrust of government in the United States isn't really as severe as it is sometimes thought to be. It is severe that the people of America do not trust our government. Throughout history, the people of America have changed their view on the government, and over the last ten years or so, many people lost faith in the government. The veiw of the government is effected greatly by outside influences, such as race, religion, and media. Without the trust of the people in our government, the United States cannot be as strong as they have the potential to be. During the different presidencies, the faith in government has changed. This shows that the people of America may not have trusted the governmental officials.
Also, I agree with Katrine Ryeng-Pezzillo's response to the author's convention. I agree that if more people believed in government than large scale protests, like Occupy wall Street, would not be happening. Also, I agree with her that media plays a large role in how people in the United States feel towards our governmental officials and the nation's government.
I agree with the author that mistrust in the government in the United States isn't really severe. There are definitely people who mistrust the government, but it never becomes really severe. In my point of view, I think a majority of Americans trust the government. If they didn't, our country would probably be in chaos right now. Everyone would be protesting against the government but it is very clear that this isn't happening right now. Occupy Wall Street may be a protest against the American government but the people involved in the protest make up only a small percentage of the United States population. A small percentage of people will hardly do any harm. Also, the United States is a democratic nation, which means that we, the people have a say in government. If you mistrust the government, that means you are basically mistrusting other Americans to some extent.
The government influences a significant portion of our lives. It does not control our lives, but the influence is strong. Therefore, mistrust of the government is severe because not all Americans wish to be influenced by the government. In terms of law, yes, but in terms of politics and the economy, the government does not receive the complete trust of the people. The immense effect personal perspectives and the media has on the people is immeasurable. Everyday, a new idea or plan is brought onto television, causing further debate and commotion. This debate that naturally occurs in politics reflects in the people's trust of the government. The more debate and talks there are, the less the people trust the government. These debates and commotions cause the people of America to feel the government is uncertain in its plan of action. Instead of having sympathy for the government in times of crisis, it is human nature to develop a greater mistrust of the government.
I disagree with the author's assertion. Though there are many groups of people in America who both support and mistrust government, it still stands that a large fraction of modern Americans distrust government. Statistics show that between the 1950's and the 1990's the percentage of citizens who did not trust government officials to look out for them doubled. This may, perhaps, be due to the fact that in the 1960's the national government began to become more involved in local matters. This could have led to American citizens expecting more out of goverment and becoming disillusioned when they felt goverment never followed through on their wishes in the following years. Or perhaps this could be due to citizens feeling that government had become overbearing and thus not to be trusted. Or maybe the statistic of people who did trust the goverment was abnormally high for any large nation in the 1950's and it was to be expected that it would decline (due to people expecting more of the goverment than they had in the past because of American's growth into a superpower). Regardless of reasoning, however, it still stands that many Americans today mistrust government officials.
I disagree with the author's opinion. I believe that Americans do mistrust the government and it is more severe than what the author believes. If the author believes that the government is mistrusted by the people is not severe, then the government would not receive support from Americans. For example, take a look at "Occupy Wall Street"; the people are unhappy with what the government is doing to help big businesses.
Msjority of Americans trust the government. Though there are some things that I'm sure every American wishes they could change, I do not think that there is a major conflict in the US concerning mistrust of the government. Also, as others have mentioned,the people who do not trust the government typically don't due to personal reasons. According to the text, most past political mistrust was caused by citizens dislike towards the government officials rather than the government itself. Today, many Americans have a strong sense of nationalism for everything in this country- the government is not an exception.
I disagree with what the author is saying. Yes, there are people who do trust the government, but more people know that there are things that the government is doing that they aren't telling us, and this alone causes people not to trust the government. Then when you have political figures that are not doing their jobs properly to a point where their popularity rating is below 20%, it causes people to lose trust and faith in these figures. Also, people tend to not trust politicians with views different than their own. They feel more comfortable having someone with their views in office. I also agree with USA Politics about the Wall Street Protest. Why would people be protesting about the FED if they completely trusted everything they were doing? They wouldn't. They don't trust the FED and its policies, and they are trying to prove their point by protesting.
I agree with the authors statement that the mistrust of government in the United States isn't really as severe as it is sometimes thought to be. In the 1950s the United States had an abnormally high level of confidence in the government. The citizens of the United States did not expect much of there government. Since they felt this way, it was very difficult for them to be upset by the governments actions. The government is expected to take care of many more things now. They deal with civil rights, crime, illegal drugs, the environment, the role of women, highway safety and etc. Domestic turmoil, urban riots, a civil rights revolution, the war in Vietnam, economic inflation, and a concern for the environment, increased what we expected Washington to do. When the government does not fix every problem we are having, people start to loose trust. However i do not believe that this is as severe as it is sometimes thought to be.
I agree with the authors opinion. In no way will all people agree on the same thing. Some people mistrust the government just as some people trust the government. All people have different beliefs, and this government has withstood the United Staters for hundreds of years, so why change it? Just because some people come up with theories going against the government, that at times, can seem considerably true, have no factual background to even be proven. Take 9/11 for example; you can search 9/11 conspiracies on youtube and thousands of videos will come up saying that the government sent the planes into the buildings and also set up bombs throughout the building to make it collapse. It is totally irrational and just because some crazy people decide to come up with these theories doesn't mean we should change something that has been working for so long.
In response to Joe Manzi, I agree with what he is saying, if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Just because government officials do wrong occasionally does not mean we should abandon the government that has been working for as long as we exist.
I agree with the author, i think that for the most part Americans do trust their government. Most of the time, people look to the government for assistance and the right answers. Things like Occupy Wallstreet show that there are times when people disagree with the government..however, this is not mistrusting.
There will always be mistrust in some decisions in which the government makes...but it might not necessarily be to the severity stated.
I agree with the author. I do because I believe that most people in the United States does trust our government. I don't think a lot of people mistrust the government. I think if we didn't trust our government we wouldn't be the country we are today. To get where we are today people need to have faith and trust in the government. People in the United States look for help and solutions from the governemnt. Of course there are some people who misttrust the government and it's because everyone has different ideas. It is not a large amount though. I think if there was a large amount of people who didn't trust the government there would be many more problems than there already are.
I agree with the author's opinion that the mistrust of the government is not as severe as it is thought to be. Despite the presence of some rejection towards the actions of our government, it is safe to say that the majority of U.S. citizens do in fact trust the government with the decisions that they make. Sure, there might be people who stand against the acts of the government and speak out in order to convey their opinion; but as far as severity goes a great percentage of the resentments aimed at the government are relatively minor. I am not rejecting the existence of prolific outbursts in a political sense; but generally the ones that do occur are small and do not have a large effect on society. For the most part, U.S. citizens are highly nationalistic and patriotic for this nation. I agree with Chris Mohr because though people may not like the officials in office, they will still trust the documents, laws, and guidelines that this country is founded upon; and under times of crisis they can have faith that the problems evident will be resolved.
I agree with the author's opinion, because while there are always going to be people who don't trust the government, most are not the radical type to use violence or other means to get there points across. While there are people who don't trust the government for small reasons, like taxes or maybe one or two laws, you rarely get protestors like on wall street. There are rarely people who severly mistrust the government because most people cannot look at a policy from all angles, and see what it is actually trying to do. These people may not agree with the government because the law doesnt help them in any way, but it can help someone else.
I completely disagree with the author. I think it is more severe than we let ourselves believe. people mistrust the government because of the things the government does or don't do. For example, if you look at the country's money situation, you wouldn't really want to trust the government. Many, including me, believe that the government doesn't know how to use money the right way. we are billions in debt to China because of this. plus if people really trusted the government, protesters wouldn't be occupying wall street for the past month.
I personally believe that the government can't be trusted on everything. It's not that the government can't be trusted, it's more the people running the government.
I agree with the author's opinion because for all the mistakes that were made in government, such as Watergate Scandal and the Vietnam war, there were many positives that came from the nation. America has the capabilities so long as there are qualified people in charge, such as bringing America out of the Great Depression and allowing our nation to become of the largest traders. Our nation was the first to have a written Constitution which remains viable to this day. I do agree with Jo-Ann on how the media portrays news, but times such as 9/11 prove that Americans do show support for their nation.
I agree with the author’s opinion that the citizens of the United States exaggerate the mistrust of government in the United States. It is not as severe as it is thought to be. For the most part, U.S. citizens do trust their government. For instance, if something bad were to occur in our country, most citizens would turn toward the government for guidance on how to handle the situation. With that being said, in my opinion I think most of the mistrust comes from the percentage of people who do not like the government based on maybe one law that these people disagree with. I agree with Jessica Giangrande on the fact that there will always be a small group who protest a certain issue. However, they will not have a large effect on society. Likewise, I believe myself that most Americans are very nationalistic. In my opinion, most citizens trust the government and the documents and laws it creates. They do not trust the people running the government though.
I agree with the author as he believes that mistrust of government in the United States isn't really as severe as it is sometimes thought to be. Yes, there are people who do not put their faith in the government, but if American citizens severely mistrusted the government our nation would fall apart. Not only would we be in midst of changing what we “mistrust” but we would not have such a great amount of nationalism. People often look to the government for support and guidance through times of severe crisis such as September 11, 2001. The protestors in the Occupy Wall Street movement apparently mistrust the government, but they are not the majority of the nation. If the mistrust of government in the United States was severe, we would not be the most patriotic nation worldwide.
I agree with the author, that the mistrust in the government is not as severe as some think it is. It is normal for the trust in government to fluctuate. However by the end of the day, people live in america because they are some-what satisfied with the government. Therefore, this means that people do trust the government to some extent. There may always be some sort of mistrust, but it is not as severe as some think it to be, or else there would be uprisings and rebellions against the government.
I agree with the author because some people do not trust the government. However, i believe that the preponderance of people do trust the government. In times of danger, the populace looks to the government for help and guidance. If people did not trust the government, then essentially nationalism would not exist. The average citizen does not mistrust the government severely or else there would be a likelihood of an "overthrown" democracy. I also agree with the statement , "if it isn't broken , don't fix it."
I agree with the author's opinion. Although many people mistrust the government, it is clearly not as severe as many other opinions make it out to be. If the government was as bad as some make it out to be, why aren't people moving away to different countries? America is the country people migrate to in order to escape the truly terrible and chaotic governments. I believe that people are always looking for someone to blame, or try to look into certain situations far more than what is really in front of them with all these conspiracy theories. Us American citizens should be grateful for the type of government we are accustomed to. Of course, no government is 100% perfect and mistakes do happen, but we could be far worse.
I agree with the author's opinion. Just because something bad happens occasionally, it does not mean we should mistrust the government. We live in a place with democracy - some mistakes are bound to be made. No one is perfect and no one can predict the future. Responding irrationally to an unpredictable situation is far worse than loathing our government. Democracy has worked since the birth of this nation and we shouldn't change it.
I agree with the author's opinion that the mistrust in government is not at all severe, though it does exist. Most people tend to trust the government. The occasional protests and so called rebellions that people participate are really just them trying to exercise their rights. Of course, in times of crisis, people have no where else to turn but the government. So it is to say, people do place their trust in their government, because who else to turn. Whoever holds conspiracies or actually mistrusts the government is simply just because they have the choice to. But when it comes down to it, our national government is the ultimate place to turn to and rely on.
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