I pose this particular question to you:

Are the people who are in positions of authority in the United States Government really to blame for it's troubles?

In terms of health care, vacation time, wages, etc ... The United States seems to trail far behind many European countries.

I've begun to question if this is truly a reflection of the Government itself, or rather the sheer size, and ability to manage something of such a massive scale.

Yes, the U.S. is a "democracy", and there are many forms of Democracy in the world, but has the U.S. simply become too large of a population to find ANY solutions to our problems at this point?

It just seems that in such a "Great" nation, it's incredible that no one seems to have any genuine solution for making life better. Sure ideas are thrown about from one the Republican's and Democrats alike, but ultimately, there seems no sure fire road to recovery.

In the mean time, people are jobless, and even those of us, such as myself, who hold down a job end up choosing between food, gas and shelter.

Perhaps "From Sea to Shining Sea" is just ultimately too much to manage?

I think the problem is both government and its people. Some people just don't care because they no longer trust that the government has our self interest at heart. Other people are too dependent on government programs and don't want change unless it is going to benefit them more.

Government refuses to solve real issues because they are afraid it will come back to bite them during election years.

In a nutshell, neither side is willing to make a sacrifice in order to come out ahead. Instead we continue a downward spiral with all these quick fixes as everything around us slowly deteriorate.

I think it is best to make the sacrifice now while we can and not later when it is too late.

Of course, the greed of money is also intertwined in all of this as well as Power and Prestige.

Interesting thread.

The problem is evil reptilian beings who are intent on devouring our souls and sending them to the soul tower on John Lear's moon so Xenu can attain Operating Thetan level alpha omega sum. He already channels through Tom Cruise, his soul has been sent to the MOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!!!!!!!

Don't let the shape shifters get you! You must we a bullet proof vest at all times and carry around blood because it makes them turn into their evil lizard form!

Spraying urine on yourself repels them. I always keep a bottle of urine handy and a reinforced tinfoil hat on my side. Cover your TVs at night because they are watching you!

Run for the hills!!!!

The problem is not just the people in power it is the slide away from our founding principles and sound money that has caused the disparities we have in this nation. Your right it is too large a nation to manage in a huge top down manner. It should be a bottom up run nation as it was intended to be with more control at the state level, with no federal income tax and a smaller federal government that basically manages our foreign affairs and little else. The states would have more control and that would mean more local administration of all levels of government. It would work a lot better that way but the New Deal rejected this and went towards a socialist police state. This can be repaired by returning government to its original constitutional restraint in power and size.

[edit on 9/3/2008 by UFOTECH]

Originally posted by n81fdx
I pose this particular question to you:

Are the people who are in positions of authority in the United States Government really to blame for it's troubles?

It depends on what you mean by "positions of authority." If you mean polticians, the answer is yes. Just look at our national debt, which is the product of deficit spending. Look at how much is owed to Social Security because it was borrowed to make deficits look smaller. Who makes decisions on how we spend our tax dollars? Did they have to do this? Of course not. It would have meant higher taxes, but frankly, we should have just dealt with the higher taxes and not had the debt.

But much of this is the ignorance of the American people. If you ask them what the deficit this year is, less than ten percent would even be in the ballpark. If you asked them what the difference was between the deficit and the national debt, I'll bet less than five percent would know. If you asked how much of their tax money was going to service the debt, again, only a tiny percentage could tell you.

BUT THEY'RE SURE TAX CUTS JUST MEAN MORE MONEY FOR THEM AND HAVE NO REAL COST!!!

See what I mean? We elect politicians who oversimplify the world with platitudes and spin; we think people who are TOUGH are the coolest thing in the world, while people who are smart are considered nerdy and boring.

We brought this upon ourselves by electing people who don't really represent our interests but know how to get us pumped up. We brought this upon ourselves

Originally posted by crudpuppy
But much of this is the ignorance of the American people. If you ask them what the deficit this year is, less than ten percent would even be in the ballpark. If you asked them what the difference was between the deficit and the national debt, I'll bet less than five percent would know. If you asked how much of their tax money was going to service the debt, again, only a tiny percentage could tell you.

I agree - you bring up a VERY important point here ...

Most Americans are oblivious to the actual workings of government as a whole. As long as they can get in the car, run down to their local fast food joint and get back in time to watch the television ... all is well!

Politicians definitely throw around a multitude of facts and figures, while twisting them into something which SOUNDS like a great idea to the average American, a the while, as you say, further damaging our already dying economy.

This same idea, of the American populous being ignorant, must certainly also be contributing to the failure of the government in general. Unfortunately, it seems like a successful democracy is one in which all of the levels of government are well informed and actively participate. The sad truth is, too many Americans expect that the government should run itself efficiently, without having any clue as to how it really works.

Yes, the U.S. is a "democracy",

Actually we are not a democracy we are a republic. The ignorance of the average person is fostered by those in power. Our education system does not even touch on how the country is actually run. As I said above, the actual objectives behind the laws are usually well hidden from the average joe. The farm issue alone took me six months of digging to unearth and I would not have done so if more knowledgeable people had not pointed the way. The USDA calls these people "misinformed" and does all it can to slander and muzzle them. The USDA goes so far as to remove the critical documents from the internet so the average joe does not have access.

There is no doubt in my mind that special interests (the mega-corporations) are actually running the USA. When they suceed in making the growing of food illegal and we have to line up at stores like the Soviets did maybe people will believe, but by then it will be too kate.