Are we citizens of the United States too trusting of our government?

Question

Are we too eager to swallow the information given to us by our government?

Considering the number of scandals and illegal activity in the history of our government, Should the citizens of the United States have more of a say and be able to hold our elected officials accountable for what they say or do?

How about a "Peoples Accountability Court" and have only volunteers from all walks of life to investigate and hold trials to keep our government in line? What do you think of that?

grips-volunteer based, not election based.

Answer 1

I don't believe we are too trusting as much as we more involved with out personal space rather than the country as a whole. As far as scandals and illegal activities....we have VERY little say as far as recalls and such. IF WE COULD gather the signatures required to recall our officials....their political machine would gather enough votes to defeat the recall.... nature of the beast.
As far as any form of court....under whose jurisdiction would it fall? How would you keep it as a truthfully bipartisan court?
Until these issues are solved.... until a non-millionaire can get elected... until the issues of the many are more important than the few...or the one, we will continue to stumble along as we have since our country was founded.

Good question.
Z

Answer 2

While it does seem like a nice idea to allow citizens to hold officials accountable, in practice their would always be groups of citizens relentlessly going after officials. I'm taking about the "impeach Bushers" never stopping trying to get him. Worst case scenario no leader would be capable of leading without being constantly hounded by this People's Accountability Court.

I think the citizens are too distrusting of our government. When the population was more complacent and just trusted the government at their word, their was much less distrust and more confidence in the government. Of course, this only works if the government is trustworthy, and I wouldn't say ours is currently.

Answer 3

The problem with our Government and the People is that many have become complacient and just go with the flow. The Government has gone behind our backs under the desquise of patriotism and preservation and stacked the deck against us so we have no leverage to fight our own Government. Yet we vote the same millionairs into office year after year and all we do is whine about what they don't do for us. Right now, I don't think we have the power to change anything our Government has in place.

Answer 4

I think we have WAY to much trust in the government. They have way to much power to do as they want and make rules even THEY cant live up to. No one is accountable for crap and we as a people now work for them instead of the other way around. They forget we are supposed to be who THEY represent and an accountability council would be a good idea IF those people were changed out every year or so instead of the bureaucracy we have now. But I guess its still the best deal going anywhere in the world. Thats why everyone wants to sneak into our country.

Answer 5

Yes, much of this is related to voter laziness and the failure or inability to gather and absorb multiple sources of information by which to formulate and base decisions along with a widespread inability to think critically. Most of us are held accountable for our actions, and the lack of accountability in government is disturbing to many. Your idea for an "Peoples Accountability Court" would be excellent, the laws already in place need only be uniformly enforced, this alone would drastically change governments aberrant and arrogant behavior. I think it would be nearly impossible to enact such a court until such a time that the current dumpster full of politicians and lobbyists are delivered to the Haz-mat landfill.

Answer 6

We have a "People's Accountability Court" we just dont use it properly if at all. Its called an election. We've had very successful reform movements in the past. There have been times when almost all incumbents lost and only new people without lots of experience (aka: connections and easy access to corruption) were voted in.

We could do it again if people didnt so readily swallow whatever their party tells them is the case.

Answer 7

Yes the Lib's are the people of the lie.
Any body who thinks the Democrats are for them are plain old stupid and should never be allowed to vote as they can not punch a hole in a piece of paper. Falling chads and the left are traitors and should be tried for treason and given the sentence which is death.

OK libs flag me and I flag you.

Answer 8

We are supposed to be able to "Petition our Government" for grievances but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to do that. I've seen various "Petitions" but government officials just ignore them.

Does anyone know how to do this and get some attention?

Answer 9

I would agree with you... but if I did, I'd be labeled as "un-American" by some conservatives, as well as being asked to move to another country because "I don't like the way things are run and I don't appreciate America for what it truly is".

I think a lot of us are too trusting of our government though, yes.

Answer 10

Keeping our public servants honest is a lot of work and takes a lot of time. Most of us have very busy lives. We need to do better in the future.