Government

When I was younger my father shared with me his feelings about the government.  He thought they were all crooked.  He didn’t vote and didn’t agree with most political actions.  My mother was a Democrat. Until recently, I didn’t really understand the differences.  I have studied politics and government in school.  I wanted to believe that what I read was true.  I wanted to believe that the conspiracy theories weren’t true.  I wanted to believe that the majority of people were good.  That the government had the publics best interest at heart. That there were only a few bad apples that gave them a bad name.  A few years ago I was subjected to the actions of the government first hand.  I realized that the majority of people don’t care about the greater good.  They are not self-sacrificing.  They are self-preserving.  They act with their best interest in mind.  This includes the government.  They control and utilize the media to push their own agenda.  I don’t believe that these individuals actively participate in these events to do harm or are evil.  They believe or tell themselves that they are doing the right thing.

The idea of government is similar to the idea of organized religion.  We organize ourselves and create rules to create a collaboration, to practice rules to get along, to create social norms, and prevent the things we are afraid of from happening.  The question isn’t if the government is good or bad.  The question is “Is anyone honest?”  Does the majority of those who are in the government believe what they say?  Have they themselves been tricked or fooled? I want to believe that only a select few know the truth.  Even they might justify their own actions by believing they are doing the right thing.  How far does the rabbit hole actually go?