But take heart, because, as things stand, our government has made the daunting task of enacting great reform easier for us since their functioning already exacts so much discomfort, if not downright pain. Why do governments cover up? They cover up for the same reasons that individuals do, to avoid unpleasant consequences, and/or to achieve ends that the rest of us would find repugnant were we to know the truth. So, what to do? Remove the incentive, the reward for the steady stream of deceit that government engages in, and which is designed to bamboozle us voters into granting otherwise unworthy elected officialdom further, if not permanent, purchase, (Yes, that was a double entendre) on seats in The Legislature.
If one's job tenure expires in relatively short order, if the gravy train of public service is derailed permanently, there's no need to cover up for the purpose of trying to beat the clock to the next election. As Kris Kristofferson observed, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." As such, our government won't need to lie when they lose nothing by telling the truth.
Until then, the oil will keep gushing from places you'd rather it didn't, while, the truth, at least from officialdom, will be in very short supply.
5 comments:
When the Tchernobyl fallout cloud was roaming over Western Europe, the French government lied about it too.
Why aren't you an anarchist, Edwardo ?
We stick the government in place because we don't believe that we can live without rules and regulations, and because we have a drive for rules and regulations.
(I'm not crazy about them...)
So it's rather modus operandi for the government to lie to us. To a certain extent, that's what government is for, to lie to us.
If we really didn't WANT to have somebody lie to us... we basically would have no need of government, now, would we ?
Take heart. i don't want government lying to me.
But... if you are still hanging out at Sudden Debt, you will see what is going on over the Israeli commando incident.
Okie stuck down videocamera footage from the Israeli Defense League to the effect that the ship's population had attacked Israeli soldiers beforehand.
....
The problem is... HOW do you determine what or who to believe these days ?? On what basis ?
That is a BIG BIG problem in my book...
Edwardo, kick me in the shins and call me dumb, but is this post about term limits? Anarchism? Israeli commandos? Wanting government to lie to us?
I apologize for being so thick, but could you point me in the right direction? Also, I'll go back and read the link in the post - maybe that will set me straight.
And I maintain that... even when our government was a lot less corrupt than it probably is now, it was lying to us.
For the above reasons.
Because government is about law and order, and people who are scared do not behave in an... orderly fashion. (Mea culpa, I have just read your post, and not checked out the link. I will do so, now...)
There's always government, Deb. It just depends on how you define it. Ditto for rules. Rules, per se, aren't the problem. Anarchism, or if you prefer, anarcho- syndilcalism flies in the face of evolutionary biology. And lies, like poverty, will, unfortunately, always be with us.
My issue has to do with matters of kind and degree. As for who to believe? Believe no one. When it comes to Israel, for example, I see no reason to believe them, or their adversaries. And the U.S. wouldn't need to believe if their weren't an Israel lobby. We wouldn't have any more interest in Israel than we do in The Ivory Coast without The Israeli lobby's inordinate influence.
You are on the right track, Johnny, regarding term limits which I don't explicitly reference. Term limits are just one piece of the reform package that I do not expect to come to pass, but advocate for nevertheless. I expect a further disintegration of government as we have known it.
In the meantime here is the bulk of the reform package.
A.) Term limits
B.) Campaign Finance Reform
C.) Shortened Election Cycles
D.) Cessation of "Redistricting"
E.) Full Audit of The Federal Reserve
F.) The restoration of constitutional mandate for congressional control of U.S. currency.
G.) An end to further raising of the debt ceiling
H.) Immediate removal of all troops, personnel, and material from Iran and Afghanistan
I.) Replacement of income tax and estate taxes with new levies on consumption, and amended levies on capital gains by individuals and corporations.
J.) Health care reform that is first and foremost free market based with no governmental bias towards "Big Pharma" or the insurance industry.
K.) A multi-generational program designed to return some "reasonable sum" of manufacture back to the United States
L.) The complete overhaul of such government agencies as the SEC, The CFTC, The Bureau of Labor and Statistics, and Homeland Security, to name but a few.
M.) Full investigations of those individuals in and out of government who are alleged to have engaged in criminal activity associated with the collapse of various large banking concerns and quasi government agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
N.) An end to the entire "alphabet soup" of programs funneling money to too big to be allowed to exist parasitic institutions such as AIG, BOA, GS, Citicorp, and JPM.
O.) A restoration of mark to market accounting standards, and the cessation of the writing of any more "standard performance contracts" aka OTC derivatives, until such time as a regulated exchange is instituted for their trade.
P.) A complete rollback of all cap and trade legislation.
Edwardo, I don't know if you know, since you may not be reading Sudden Debt, but Thai has died of a heart attack.
You can find E-Mail contacts on Sudden Debt, if you want to contribute something.
The memorial service will be around June 14.
I have written something for Thai on Toby's blog, and will send it to his friends/family.
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