Why do you not trust the government of the United States?

[PaulineDisciple]

I am preparing to write a paper as a primer on why we should not trust the government and why we need to make drastic changes on making government more open, honest and accountable. I was prompted to write this paper because I have a nephew that is contemplating joining the military and after my research on the subject of false flag operations such as the Gulf of Tonkin incident and Operation Northwoods, I am convinced that our military personnel are merely being used as pawns in a worldwide chess game where only a few wealthy elite stand to benefit and not for “defending our freedoms”. I want to put it in format like a position paper, quoting from primary source material and drawing necessary conclusions based on them. I want to keep it as succinct as possible but I want it to be thorough enough as to make the case strong enough that any logical person cannot help but draw the same conclusion. Although one of the purposes of this paper is to convince my nephew not to join the military as it is in its current state and led by our current “representatives”, I would also like it to be broad and extensive enough to cover all the subjects that would cause any thinking person to demand more accountability from our government. I only want things that are documented and admitted to, as Sgt. Joe Friday from Dragnet is quoted as saying, “just the facts, ma’am”. My main source that I plan on using is the National Security Archive located on George Washington University’s website. The documents that come to mind that I plan on using are the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Operation Northwoods, Operation AJAX, the U.S.S. Liberty, Operation Paperclip, MKULTRA, the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, Project Bluebird/Artichoke, COINTELPRO etc. You get the point, the kinds of disgusting and unethical operations that are now public knowledge.

I am basically trying to make the case that given the track record of these government sponsored operations, we need to abolish any and all agencies that are given the power and immunity to perform such grotesque acts and since government cannot be trusted with the kind of power that would enable them to do such things, we should insist that all laws that have infringed on the privacy and freedoms of the people like the patriot act, military commissions act, FISA etc. need to be abolished.

To help me wade through all this material, I would also like for you to include quotes from sections of these documents that you like someone to pay particular attention to if you have the time. For example, one of the quotes that I am going to use in regard to the Operation Northwoods document is; “A “remember the Maine” incident could be arranged in several forms: a. We could blow up a US ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba.”

[Anti Federalist]

One more to add to your list: Operation SHAD.

Any thinking person, presented with all that information, could not help but come to the conclusion that government should not be trusted.

[constituent]

Who says I don't trust the government?

[Old Ducker]

My opinion is that you're casting too wide a net. You're writing a paper not a book. Take just one event that you can describe in detail then use that to create broader implications.

[ChaosControl]

Why?

1. It has never done anything to earn my trust.
2. It has done many things to specifically make me not trust it. Lie, murder, steal, etc.

[Bruno]

Why should I trust the government?

[noxagol]

I do not trust the government because the government does not trust me. I know it does not trust me because it has all sorts of rules and regulations saying what I can and cannot do, how I can and cannot live, what I can and cannot eat. The government tries to tell me how to live, so it does not trust me. Why should I trust someone that does not trust me?

Also, it's long history of lying, cheating, stealing, murdering, and other villianous acts also has a huge part to play.

[Elwar]

track


record

[freshjiva]

track


record

Agreed. Here's one idea: it routinely miscalculates and mismanages things that it gets involved in. See the examples of:

1) Entitlements: GAO severely underestimated the costs for running Medicare/Medicaid back in the 1960s. Plenty of fraud and waste that has went on since its creation, which has led to a sustained increase in costs. Bottom line: government has a history of underestimating the costs of entitlements programs.

3) Foreign Policy: the government always believes its "doing the right thing" by getting involved in foreign countries, and promises a swift victory and presents imagery of triumph to the people (remember "Mission Accomplished" back in 2004?), but ends up spending billions, loses thousands of lives, covertly topples/installs foreign governments, sends foreign aid to our "friends", and sometimes even presents misleading information (i.e. Iraq). Bottom line: government has a history of foreign policy engagements that is NOT out of the protection of the American people.

[Koz]

Jefferson and Madison told me not to trust the government

[PaulineDisciple]

I understand that most people have a general distrust of government but in most cases people are not willing to admit that it is even worse than they think. So the purpose of this paper is to give people that are willing to do a little investigation a succinct case for why they ought to be doing more than just be arm chair critics of the government and maybe run for office, donate to campaigns or something. And as for my nephew, the purpose is to keep him from making a terrible and possibly deadly mistake.

I have found myself talking with people about this subject so often that I thought it might be better if I write a paper clearly outlining my rationale for believing the way I do so that I might be able to accelerate their learning process to win them over to our side and we can increase our ranks and eventually overcome the radical corruption that has seized our government. Most people tend to communicate better by writing out their thoughts since they have more time to reflect, revise and perfect their arguments. As the tea party movement has demonstrated our movement is growing, so why not try to hone our techniques and help our movement to become an overwhelming force that cannot help to effect the changes we all want to see. Just look at how much our cause has grown in the last 2 years, I am just thinking of ways to accelerate that growth.

[tropicangela]

Jefferson and Madison told me not to trust the government

:D

[Matt Collins]

A healthy distrust of government is necessary for a free society.

[PaulineDisciple]

Thanks Anti Federalist, I've never heard of Operation SHAD, and from what I am reading, it is particularly relevent for my nephew who is considering joining the military.

[Isaac Bickerstaff]

I don't trust any drug dealers.