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Lack of Trust- The Death of American Democracy?

Many people assume that democracy is achieved by the mere act of holding elections where the general public can choose which candidate they would rather have as their representati ve voice in the government. But I think that this definition falls short. After all, we have this kind of a democracy in America right now, but the elected Congress only managed to garner something like 29% approval rate in polls. The President and Vice-Preside nt have similarly low (or lower) approval ratings. And approval ratings for state government officials are often at the lower end of the spectrum too. By and large, it seems that the people do not trust or approve of their elected officials, their words, or their actions. In short, there is no trust.

I’ve written before about the lack of trust in public officials, but recently I had to ponder the question: If you can’t trust the government in a democracy is it still a democracy? Has our system of government become more like a rogue corporate board of directors, one that is only marginally concerned about and rarely accountable to the shareholders  (citizens)  ? Or is it something even worse?

We can fool ourselves all we want about being able to affect the course of change and progress. But if every time we get a chance to vote for new elected officials we are stuck between choosing from someone we don’t like and don’t trust or someone we kind of like but still don’t trust, what really is the point?

I’m not by nature an apathetical kind of guy, and I’m certainly not advocating for us all to crawl away from our keyboards and stop making noise. Indeed, to do so would only ensure an even quicker demise of whatever remnants of democratic governance we have left. But I am increasingly jaded by the lack of trust this government has engendered in us, the people of America.

The level of dishonesty from all facets of government means that I have no confidence in their warnings about potential enemies. It means I have no confidence in their ability to protect the country. I have no confidence in their ability to make rational decisions about the future course of America. And without that confidence, the government essentially becomes a tyrant, working not for us, but only to retain their grip on power and control. That is not democracy. It’s not even close.

What will it take to turn the tide? Simple- honesty. No more pandering from politicians. No more stoking the fear monkey when the polls are low. No more posturing to get donations. Just pure, honest stewardship. Only when we once again have that in the majority of our elected officials can America again claim to be a democracy. Only then can we hold ourselves up as a model for the world to see.

[tags]democracy, trust, honesty[/tags]

Tags: General, BIO
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