Americans Mistrust the Government - and That's Good

According to the latest Associated Press-GfK poll, Americans don't have confidence in the government's ability to protect their personal safety and economic security, a sign that their widespread unease about the state of the nation extends far beyond politics. The Associated Press-GfK poll reveals that more than half those in the survey said Washington can do little to effectively lessen threats such as climate change, mass shootings, racial tensions, economic uncertainty and an unstable job market. The poll was conducted before a Liberian man in Texas was diagnosed with the Ebola virus, but after mass demonstrations in Missouri following the fatal police shooting a black 18-year-old and after the beheading of a woman in an Oklahoma food processing plant, apparently at the hand of a suspended worker. The concerns of Americans start with the economy. The poll found that 90% of those most likely to vote in the November 4 election call the economy an extremely or very important issue. Even among Democrats, just 27% are confident the government can keep them safe from terrorist attacks. Fewer than 20% say so on each of the other issues, including climate change. Americans living in urban areas tend to be more confident the government will keep them safe from terrorist threats than do people living in suburbs and rural areas. Younger Americans are more confident than older people that the government can minimize the threat of mass shootings. When it comes to quelling racial tensions, Hispanics are more confident than are blacks and whites. Only 20% in the poll say they are extremely or very confident the government can keep them safe from another terrorist attack, while 40% express moderate confidence.One-third of Americans say they are not too confident or not confident at all in the government's ability to prevent another large-scale terrorist attack. ~~~ We should not make light of the deep mistrust Americans have in their federal government. It symbolizes the malaise that has gripped America since the economic bubble burst in 2008, leading to the "Great Recession" with its loss of savings and homes, unemployment and under-employment, and the refusal of the Obama White House, despite its upbeat rhetoric, to do much to pull America's economy back into decent working order. But, Americans' profound mistrust reaches beyond their reading of the state of the economy into the realm of America's national and personal safety. Half - 50% - of Americans have no or little confidence in the government's ability to prevent another large-scale terrorist attack in America. To feel unsafe in America is a very recent phenomenon and it strains the bond between Americans and their government close to the breaking point. And it is not helped by the lack of confidence Americans have in their President - whose positive poll is at 38-40%, depending on the poll - with Mr. Obama's inability to manage foreign policy leading the negative numbers -- a perception closely related to the feeling of personal safety, since foreign policy today focuses on the Middle East and ISIS' threat to kill Americans in America. The insecurity relates to the negative perceptions about Obama's 2011 Iraq troop withdrawal, his mishandling of the Syria civil war and the Iranian negotiations, his refusal to properly engage the US in defeating ISIS, and his hesitance to explain his foreign policy to America or the world in reasonably acceptable terms. ~~~~~ But, dear readers, mistrust of government is not just a recent Ametican phenomenon. It has existed since the Greeks first created the concept of democratic government. Here are some examples of the value of distrust set out through the history of western civilization. ~~ ANCIENT GREECE. "There is one safeguard known generally to the wise, which is an advantage and security to all, but especially to democracies as against despots. What is it? Distrust." ___Demosthenes / "There are all kinds of devices invented for the protection and preservation of countries: defensive barriers, forts, trenches, and the like... But prudent minds have as a natural gift one safeguard which is the common possession of all, and this applies especially to the dealings of democracies. What is this safeguard? Skepticism. This you must preserve. This you must retain. If you can keep this, you need fear no harm." ___Demosthenes / "The three aims of the tyrant are, one, the humiliation of his subjects; he knows that a mean-spirited man will not conspire against anybody; two, the creation of mistrust among them; for a tyrant is not to be overthrown until men begin to have confidence in one another -- and this is the reason why tyrants are at war with the good; they are under the idea that their power is endangered by them, not only because they will not be ruled despotically, but also because they are too loyal to one another and to other men, and do not inform against one another or against other men -- three, the tyrant desires that all his subjects shall be incapable of action, for no one attempts what is impossible and they will not attempt to overthrow a tyranny if they are powerless." ___Aristotle. ~~ THE RENAISSANCE. "When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred." ___Niccolo Machiavelli. ~~ THE AMERICAN FOUNDERS. "He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man...The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy this gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people." ___Samuel Adams / "There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty" ___ John Adams / "All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree." ___James Madison / "Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny." ___ Thomas Jefferson. ~~ So, the next time you hear laments about Americans' mistrust of their government, breathe a sigh of relief. As long as Americans distrust their government, they are in the driver's seat -- because they see the flaws in decisionmaking and in the personal political ambitions that tend to corrupt the American constitutional system. And what Americans see, they can correct. That is how America has always worked. And it will work this time. Vote on November 4th.