When did we start hating the government?

Hi there.

I want to know when we stopped supporting the government here in the USA.

I saw the film Frost Nixon a while ago and I think it's stunning how much like the Bush era that film was like. You had some guy screw everything up and give the Republicans a bad name. Nixon was pretty much as hated as Bush was... from my understanding.

I've read some literature and I can see that the hate goes back to the cold war era. But we were fighting the commies back then so why exactly were people upset?

I understand that we've hated the government when it's gone into other lands. But, I am aware that there was a time when we could look up to the government and that capitalism wasn't something that was frowned upon. What colleges have done is brainwashed people into accepting more contemporary liberal ideas about the economy and not accepting a more laissez fair approach. People are taught that the market system is chaotic and the government needs to step in to regulate things. The government is said to have abused the free market system and that is why we need socialism, according to these new leftists on the economy.

Just when did all of this happen? At what point in time can we pinpoint when we all stopped trusting the government?

I know it hasn't always been like this.

Originally posted by Frankidealist35
Hi there.

I want to know when we stopped supporting the government here in the USA.

Well, the government is supposed to support it's people. Could this be the simple answer you are looking for? For myself, I no longer feel that the government represents, "We the People, for the People."

As for calling it hatred, not so. I think I am one who has lost faith in our leadership, and I am dissapointed.

I know it hasn't always been like this.

When wasn't it?

I think for the majority of America's population it was directly after 9/11. Hardly anyone bought the real story which began the questioning.

As I understand it, the people have hated the government just about as soon as it was formed. Why? Because we are a large group of people with a small group representing us. Nobody is going to get exactly what they want all of the time, so we complain. Which is plenty fair in a democracy.

And let's be honest, it isn't as though we have real bright and shiny humanitarians looking out for our best interest. We have, generally speaking, the greedy and the corrupt trying to make the rich filthy rich and the keep the poor quiet and powerless.

I've hated the government as long as I knew what it was.

No rehabilitation for the homeless, no housing (outside of non-profit orginizations that spend their own money to help those in need).

Tax.

Lies.

Disinformation.

And last but not least, UFOs.


Yeah, UFOs don't exist right?

I know you tried Jimmy Carter, but you got shut down, they wouldn't tell you a damn thing.

edit: oh yeah, and 9/11 is kind of a given?

[edit on 1-3-2009 by AlienGhandi]

I think anybody hates a government that tells you what to do. Black African Americans were told long enough of what to do and not what to do. My guess is that they hated American government from the get go. The Indians and the trail of tears. They had to hate the government. All through our history it's been " The People " who has made the difference in America, not our government. It was people willing to stand up for what was right. And now in this day and age I believe we owe our ancestors a stand up for what's right revolution in this country. Government was meant for protecting this country, protecting it's constitution and it's people. Until it can do that again and stay out of the private sector it's going to always be hated. So I'd say it was hated from the get go. When our fore fathers wrote and signed the Constitution Of The United States there were plenty of Americans against that piece of paper. There were people who hated being under the British rule as well as the New American government rule.

Grade 1...they showed us all kinds of war stuff and told us how cool it was for Canadians to be doing what we do.
I thought it was sick from the get go.
To this day i do not wear a poppy and don't acknowledge war from politics.

I think I was 13 when learning that the Lusitania was what got us into WWI. I could smell a set up immediately.

For most it's not such a dire emotion as hate I believe, but extreme distrust. It is only good sound common sense that if you have half a brain you would not trust the government, especially at the federal level. After all the fed gov was supposed to be a central government where the respective state governments could unite. Now the central government dictates to the states and we have a couple hundred politicians "representing" over three million American citizens that have no real say in what their government does. As for the question of when? I would guess the beginning was a minority in the days of prohibition. Then there came radio then television that made the country much smaller as Carolina may readily know what is going on in California. As more people became aware of the power that was being amassed more distrust came about. Then the 60's came about and the Vietnam conflict and protests and this created a whole generation where it was popular to distrust the government. Then more corruption, more news stories, then 9/11, then Iraq, and now trillion dollar tax payer funded outlays to support the uber rich that are losing their rears. So gradually over the last 75 years or so until now only fools would blindly follow and trust thier government.

Well, the USA was built on the rejection of European imperialism, so it was from conception antigovernment. When the european elites got control back of the US, with the setup of the FED system, the American intelectual community started it's trek against big government, because that's what the system does, it grows government over the people. The people themselves began to hate the government as they realised what it was. There were various factors that brought more and more people into the antigovernment (federal) camp, like WWI and WWII, Vietnam, Kennedy Assassination, Martin Luther King Assassination, 911, Iraq, and quite a few more events, as well as millions of localized abuses, lies and manipulations that slowly crept up into the group mind.

The sad thing about this situation is that in part this was planned, because they do want to destroy the constitution of the USA, so while hating the current government is understandable, if this hate turns into a situation where the constitution is destroyed, then the american people have gone backwards. The world elite want a US under tyrannical control, and they will use the people's hate of government to spark the civil unrest they need to achieve it.

It's far more effective to ignore government than to harbour ill will towards it, imho. It's a shapeshifter, it will always adapt to the input given to it. But if left without input it collapses under the weight of it's own inequity.

reply to post by texas thinker


I think you mean 300 million.

Franklin and Jefferson both thought the government was thoroughly venal, smacked of Royalism and was completely doomed. Both men expected a second revolution within their lifetimes. Jefferson said that tree of liberty must from time to time be watered with the blood of patriots and considered his election in 1800 a second revolution. He set about trying to tear down the government (until he made the Louisiana purchase and began to luxuriate in his imperial designs).

So "we've hated the government" since the day the government was established.

reply to post by spirit_horse


Yes I did....sorry about that. Thanks for the clarification.

Originally posted by Zepherian
Well, the USA was built on the rejection of European imperialism, so it was from conception antigovernment. When the european elites got control back of the US, with the setup of the FED system, the American intelectual community started it's trek against big government, because that's what the system does, it grows government over the people. The people themselves began to hate the government as they realised what it was. There were various factors that brought more and more people into the antigovernment (federal) camp, like WWI and WWII, Vietnam, Kennedy Assassination, Martin Luther King Assassination, 911, Iraq, and quite a few more events, as well as millions of localized abuses, lies and manipulations that slowly crept up into the group mind.

The sad thing about this situation is that in part this was planned, because they do want to destroy the constitution of the USA, so while hating the current government is understandable, if this hate turns into a situation where the constitution is destroyed, then the american people have gone backwards. The world elite want a US under tyrannical control, and they will use the people's hate of government to spark the civil unrest they need to achieve it.

It's far more effective to ignore government than to harbour ill will towards it, imho. It's a shapeshifter, it will always adapt to the input given to it. But if left without input it collapses under the weight of it's own inequity.

Correction: Our Empire began with the purchase of Louisiana and the subsequent sabre rattling with Bonaparte and Don Carlos of Spain. Even Jefferson admitted the purchase "made blank paper of the constitution". In Jefferson's correspondence, especially with Adams the Elder, he frequently referred to the US as the "empire".

Jefferson did not build the US by himself. Only Yale students think he did

I'm referring more to the volksgeist of the time in the populations that inhabited what was to be the USA, not so much the concrete political machinations of the birthing of the nation.

Your post shows a common problem with elitists, they always tend to replace the people with the politician. The mindset with a moment. That is not a complete understanding of the dynamics of nation building, imho.

Simple!

Governments no longer represent the wishes and well being of their people. They are whores to the corporations and lobbyists and complicit in a slave trade cleverly disguised as democracy/capitalism.... It stops the slaves from rising up you know. Just bedazzle your citizens with bright, shiny objects and given them the illusion that they have freedom of choice (eg; Sony or Pioneer) and control over their own destinies. Keep them in their slumber or consensus trance and everything will be OK for the few elite.

However, people have woken up! To say they are a little sore at their governments is completely understandable.

Rant Over!

IRM

You aren't serious,are you? The day people started hating the government is when people woke up and realized that the government has been screwing them instead of helping them for all these years.

Raped and robbed us of our rights, of our money and of our dignity. They prosecute the terrorist, mafia and all criminals for the same things they do. Only they do it on an astronomical scale.

They talk about themselves and how they base all their deeds on ethics, morals and civility yet they are the most devious, deceptive, murderous criminals walking the planet.They are hypocrites, Murderers and SCUM plain and simple.They should all be put to death for treason. there's no need for a trial because we see and know the facts.

They need to be wiped off the planet. The day they were more interested in prospering financally than the well being of this country is when we started to hate them. Only difference is more people are aware today because of the internet and varoious other sources which reveal the truth of these immoral beings. There is no hiding.What was done in secret will be shouted from the rooftops.

There's always been a degree of hate towards the government. Not everybody wanted to break away from Britain, at the start, and there have been various issues of contempt ever since. The civil war was obviously the high point of hate towards the US government. After that, there was quite a bit of contempt during times of economic hardship like the 1870s and 1920s-1930s. The prohibition probably wasn't very popular, nor, despite how most history books make it out, was WWI or WW2. I think the 1950s may have been the absolute high point of the popularity for the US government.

Right now, I'm sure the general public is mostly pissed about the economy, more, even than the wars.