Is it patriotic to question the government?

Question

what do YOU think?

Answer 1

I think the Declaration of Independence said it all....

"....Prudence, indeed,
will dictate that Governments long established
should not be changed for light and
transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience
hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to
suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right
themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they
are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses
and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same
Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under
absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their
Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide
new Guards for their future Security....."

Answer 2

Yes, it is patriotic to question the government. Our Founding Fathers intended our government to be of the people, by the people, for the people. When the government is no longer of the people, that's when we have a problem. As an American you have every right to question the government, and make sure that the government itself is right.

Answer 3

No it should be mandatory.

We are right to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties.
James Madison
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.
James Madison

The loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or imagined, from abroad.
James Madison
"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. … No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."James Madison

Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct.
Thomas Jefferson
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.
Thomas Jefferson
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains.
Thomas Jefferson

Answer 4

I think it's posssible to question the government with unpatriotic intent, but impossible to restrict that without restricting patriotic questioning.

Pointing out that the emperor has no clothes just might be a plot to weaken the government for foreigners to take over, but how would observers distinguish between that and a child pointing out that the kind is a fool who just exposed himself to the public?

Not that there's any kind of allegory here.

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TROOPS HOME NOW!
There, I did my bit.

Answer 5

Paying taxes is patriotic with the aid of fact that's how our government runs. What i do no longer consider is the point of taxes we pay. There are too many government classes and not sufficient self initiative... yet this is in basic terms my opinion.

Answer 6

It is your duty as an American citizen to question the government, and demand accountability for their actions.
You may be in minority or disagree, You still have the right to speak and be heard.

Answer 7

In the US, this is the very definition of patriotism outlined by our forefathers. How can a government of the people, by the people and for the people call the people traitors for demanding proper representation?

Answer 8

Teddy Roosevelt said it best:

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. (1918)"

I don't see why that would extend to the entire government.

Answer 9

Jefferson claimed that "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." I agree.

Answer 10

Absolutely!

There is a name for those who never question the authority of government ... they're called "SHEEPLE."