Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mand12
I've never understood what people seem to think is the upside to the government to all the horrible things they get accused of. Evil sinister plots to...do...what, exactly? BUT THEY MIGHT KNOW THINGS!!!
...and...then what?
Seriously, what are you afraid of them doing?
I wish they still taught history in school, the way they used to. If it were, no one would ever have to ask the question you're asking right now.
I don't mean that to come off as condescending because it's not meant to be. It's not something that I can fault anyone for not understanding; it's overwhelmingly more common for us to choose faith over ownership in the actions of our government.
Faith is not something to be placed in government. Faith is what you choose when you're unwilling or unable to understand something that you know you should. When you embrace a culture of having faith in government, you embrace much of what comes with any faith doctrine. Before you even start debating the integrity of government, you disregard your own inherent ability to lay judgement. You assume "they might know things."
When the majority of a people assume a role of inferiority and reconcile that vulnerability by having faith in the integrity of their "superiors," they put each other in a very precarious situation. If the integrity of the government is compromised, people won't easily break their faith to recognize it. The faithful default to denial because the brain finds it very difficult to reconcile a conflict with a long-held faith. We've all seen what a person in denial looks like. Logic becomes irrelevant. They already chose faith over logic.
I'm a humble person. I don't think I'm very much further evolved than most of the people who populated this world for the last few millenia. I think my brain works about the same as theirs, so I think I'm equally susceptible to the human conditions that have allowed for unfathomable, heinous acts to be dictated by governments and enacted by the people. So, logic dictates that we examine exactly what it is, that rests inside of us, that would make it possible for leaders to persuade us to commit these great evils despite our inherent goodness.
I have plenty of opinions on that, but faith is an overwhelmingly obvious factor. America was once a nation of men unhindered by fear of uncertainty. Not so long ago, we understood that remaining free from the grips of oppression would require us to acknowledge our own human condition. We understood that we were inevitably the greatest threat to ourselves.
I don't know what happened between then and now. We are totally complacent about our freedom.
No conspiracy theory is needed to see the vulnerability of a people who place their faith in government. No conspiracy theory is needed to see the duplicity of a government that asks for our faith. If you feel incapable of judging the people of government, become capable. That is the responsibility of a free people. Save faith for things that are truly beyond the scope of man's understanding.