Do you fear your Government?

[1-Old-Man]

Remember the old saw Governments should fear their people, not the other way around? I am certain my Government does not fear me and I am equally certain that I fear my Government.

How about you?

16 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	I have no fear of my Government
	5 (31%)
	My Government is out of the control of we the governed and I fear it.
	11 (69%)
	42
	0 (0%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Octafish]

1. It's not like they kill people without trial, or anything.

Oh.

Well, it's not like they don't lock up the people who looted the life savings and homes of millions of Americans, apart from the Banksters.

Oh.

Well, it's not like they lock people up who are innocent, apart from Don Siegelman.

Oh.

Well, it's not like they start wars based on lies that profit the connected Washington insiders and their cronies on Wall Street.

Oh.

Well, it's not like government of the rich, by the rich for the rich, apart from the fact the rich are richer than at any time in history.

Oh.

Well, other than that, innocent people have nothing to fear from this, their, government.

[1-Old-Man]

2. Well put, and the shame is that your list could go on and on and on ....

Its not like the NSA spies on every American
Its not like the IRS can not leave you pennyless in an instant, with the stroke of a couple of keys,
Its not like there is no history of Drones targeting and killing Americans
Its not like we don't already have the largest prison population on earth, with many incarcerated for years for petty crimes.
Its not like our air, water, and land are not being polluted daily with no interference at all from Regulators.
Cameras on every street corner
Mass shootings seen as a normal event
Public Education producing illiterates
Not a job to be found while imports (of both products and labor) abound
and the list goes on and on and on ...

[Octafish]

6. If it's not on the television, it didn't happen.

If I wasn't born when it occurred, how do I know it happened?

The followers of Bernays have discovered how to fool most of the people all the time -- not, you and me and quite a few on DU, 1-Old-Man!

[truebrit71]

8. ^^^And this

[truebrit71]

7. ^^^This

[patrice]

3. I have trouble with zero-sum questions, like fear is an ON - OFF switch. It's especially difficult

to know how to answer when no premises or conditions are provided.

That's why I prefer rating scales.

I am anxious about "our" government. I think it IS at an important cross-roads (one amongst many historically and one amongst other such cross-roads that will manifest in the future). Fear affects what I will do about that and NOT necessarily in a functional way.

I think we need INDIVIDUAL courage and creative intelligence much more than we need fear.

[patrice]

4. Perhaps "your" government does not fear you, BECAUSE you fear it. nt

[bigwillq]

5. I fear what poor management can do to citizens

Government is out of control and people are being affected by it.

[William769]

9. Other.

I don't fear my Government, I fear the Religious Zealots trying to take it over.

[el_bryanto]

10. That's a pretty either or poll

I fear some of the things they do and have done, but I don't spend my life in fear.

Bryant

[Dash87]

11. I fear the monster is out of the pen. That monster is defense.

Eventually, it may get too big to control, and the serpent may even gain a mind of its own.

I hope it's not too late.

[patrice]

15. I agree. MIC and "our" government are almost 100% identical (thank you, John McCain et al).nt

[Pragdem]

12. No. Generally the government only goes after people who deserve it.

And in some cases people that deserve it aren't gone after at all.

We can debate the means with which they go after people and express outrage when someone innocent is pegged for something they didn't do (usually because of the company they keep or past behavior), but the idea that the government is this behemoth of evil that just goes after people for their own amusement is how kooks think.

[patrice]

13. So, do you think the CIA is reading our minds, in service to aliens, or just reading our minds

for The One World Order?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. In a democracy we shouldn't fear our government....or trust it.

[patrice]

16. +1 million, because THAT is what freedom is. It takes courage to be free & freedom is what

we NEED most of all in order to discover OUR OWN solutions.

[Marrah_G]

17. Not fear

Anger though, lots of anger.

[PD Turk]

18. I didn't used to

But as I have watched the corporate plutocracy take over, I fear what they might do. Whatever serves the very wealthiest in this country is what they'll do.. to hell with the rest of us

[randome]

19. I can't think of one thing in my life that has changed in the slightest because of the government.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[1-Old-Man]

29. Transportation: Government built the Interstates and it changed the country forever.

[patrice]

20. BTW, talk to anyone with a phobia, fear is slavery to what is feared, because fear compels one

to be a reactionary, less and less authentic independent action and more and more exclusive reactions to what is feared, until there's nothing new, only reaction to whatever one's triggers are.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

21. Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one. Thomas Paine

[G_j]

22. I fear the CONSEQUENCES

of letting Monsanto dominate our food supply, of letting oil companies drill in the Arctic, Keystone, fracking, drone strikes,
a Walmart job economy, our children's future.

[FirstLight]

23. +10000!!

that's more along the lines of my problem with the govt these days. The unbridled & continued raping and pillaging of the environment and economy for gain. the consequences are going to be felt by US, not just our children.

[FirstLight]

24. yes, and no

I fear that this machine is out of control and it will devour all that is good, consuming the poor and the environment and everything else in it's path.

However, when I think of email and wiretapping, or drones and other treatment of the general populace like we are spies. I have a mixed reaction. I know it is wrong and I fear any government that would make me feel like I was living in the book 1984. BUT I also have a strong belief in the INCOMPTENCE of the govt...that they couldn't find their asses from a hole in the ground most of the time so they surely won't be able to read my facebook posts and emails and come after me for anything of importance.

It's a double edged sword, really

[RC]

25. Which part?

Government is not a monolithic entity.
That guy fixing a pot hole? That woman behind the counter at the DMV? The people working at the Municipal water plant? The idiots people in Congress? Obama? The City Council? What part of government? Our Military? That group of mostly men, that keep the government computers working at whatever level of government?

[Drale]

26. The only thing I fear is the anti-government super gun nuts

They are far more likely to walk into a post office were I am mailing a letter and start shooting then the government is to do anything good or bad.

[Puzzledtraveller]

27. especially good..

[Egalitarian Thug]

28. Where's 'other'? n/t