Agree or Disagree: Do Americans love government?

[Renew Deal]

I am not asking if Americans love the government. I am asking if you agree with the statement "Americans Love Government."

[havocmom]

1. They don't love it, few respect it, but most want it to fix everything for them

America is a surly adolescent and government is the dreaded parent. But boy when the 'kids' want something...

[KansDem]

2. It's a "love/hate" relationship

The wealthy hate government because it requires taxes, but love it when it fattens their portfolios by declaring unnecessary war;

Corporations hate government because of regulations, but love it when it bails them out;

Conservatives hate government for its intrusion into their private lives, but love it when it intrudes into other folks' private lives;

A significant number of Americans hate government because it's trying to reform health care, but love government because it provides Medicare...

...and so on.

[Johonny]

10. They hate it because they're told to hate it

but beg for it every time they're in trouble. Government is like your parents when you're a teenager.

[KansDem]

11. Make that "spoiled" teenager...nt

[Greyhound]

3. Need a better definition.

I think most people recognize the necessity of government.

[Goldstein1984]

5. I don't think it's the necessity of government in question, it's

the effect of government--what the government is doing.

For the many, universal healthcare provides for the general welfare, while the few are enriched by a lack of government control, or at least government control over them.

The role of government is going to be perceived differently by the few and the many--it's the timeless class struggle thing.

I believe ours serves the few, so I dislike it.

[Laelth]

4. Americans DO love government.

They just don't know it, and they definitely don't want to pay for it.

Take all government services away, and you'll see I am right.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Renew Deal]

15. I agree 100%

:thumbsup:

[Hutzpa]

6. Capitalism has failed so far

whether Americans love government or don't is besides the point at this stage, what
matters to most imho is for government to regulate the private industries so they
don't take advantage of the middle class as they've done in the past.

[Duer 157099]

7. FYI: Americans ARE the government

I think we forget that too easily and too often

[Uncle Joe]

13. I believe that's because the corporate media and their oligarch/corporate clients

want the people to forget, the messages overt and subliminal to that effect are constant in one form or another.

If the American People were truly empowered with the continuously, hammered home, precious knowledge of "We the People," corporations would lose some or all of their power in running roughshod over the people. Therefor government must be demonized as a disconnected entity from "We the People," as one neocon, corporate supremacist said government should be shrunken until you can drown it in a bathtub.

He knows this would allow corporations more power in controlling the government, via bribery or political intimidation while neutralizing any real governmental representation of the people's best interests.

I believe that's why Boehner couldn't bring him self to read the Preamble of the Constitution; of which he claims to always carry in his pocket and has swore an oath to uphold and defend. Instead he read from the Declaration of Independence which of course was/is a revolutionary document, while calling it the Constitution. One interesting side note, later when I tried to click on the CNN link telecasting that episode, it had be scrubbed.

[Motown_Johnny]

8. I think we would all hate to not have a government, can you define "Love" in this context?

I have no idea how to answer

[Renew Deal]

16. Here you go...

–verb (used with object) 15. to have love or affection for: All her pupils love her.
16. to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person).
17. to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in: to love music.
18. to need or require; benefit greatly from: Plants love sunlight.
19. to embrace and kiss (someone), as a lover.
20. to have sexual intercourse with.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/love

[timeforpeace]

9. Those who rely on government for money/food/health care love it.

[Kitty Herder]

12. That would be all of us.

We all depend on the government to maintain the roads which allow goods and services (money/food/healthcare) to be transported. We rely on the govt. to maintain police and fire departments to protect our money/food/healthcare. We depend on the govt. to keep our food and drugs safe. When Wall Street implodes, we expect the government to step in and bail them out to get the money flowing again and to regulate them to prevent such disasters in the future. We all hope to live long enough to use Social Security and Medicare. Even most teabaggers would have a fit if their Medicare and Social Security were taken away.

Is our trust misplaced? Does government screw up? Of course. But who else is going to do those things? Government is the institution through which we the people engage in projects for the common good. It is the vehicle we use to accomplish ends that benefit all of us.

[Renew Deal]

14. The Answer: Americans LOVE government

We love it. We can't get enough of it. We talk, bitch, vote, and run for it like crazy. Every time there is a problem we blame government for not already solving the problem. We create more government all the time. We've got water districts, sanitation districts, fire districts, and just about anything else we can turn into a government function. So the idea that we want smaller government does not match up with our behavior.

This doesn't address the fact that there are cases when we need less government. Local governments are typically more in peoples business than the feds or the state.

[Sparkly]

17. Most love to hate government

especially those who don't realize how much they rely upon it (thinking they just need "independence," not realizing what they have and what it costs).

[Kaleva]

18. It's a love/hate relationship.

[roamer65]

19. We aren't the government anymore.

Too much corruption in DC makes the expression of the people's will near impossible.