Woodrow Wilson - not normally one of my calendar pin-ups, but in this case I give him credit - famously said that a true principle of democratic government is that someone somewhere must be trusted. Absent that trust, democracy must ultimately collapse.
Of course the instant response to any question such as this one, particularly in this age that fancies itself world weary and cynical is that government is not trustworthy. However, in truth, the public's actions betray its hypocrisy. When the pandemic sprang up, the first question was not, "How ought I as an individual handle this?" Rather, it was, "What can the government do to fix this? When will it produce the cure?" and so on.
Then of course, when things did not go perfectly - as in human affairs they often will not - the public proclaimed itself dismayed. Then went immediately back to wondering how government was going to fix the problem.
An interesting contrast, please note, to the public's reaction to the 1919 Spanish Influenza pandemic. The nation then had just won a world war and yet there was no Federal response to the pandemic at all - and there was no call from the public for there to be such a response. States, communities and the individual all pretty much were left to respond as they would.
The deficit is another fun example. The public demands that the government reign in spending. Yet the public that makes that demand has the following profile: 1 in 6 who works, works for government. 1 in 7 - and this will only increase as the population ages - is a Social Security recipient. 1/3 of all families pay NO Federal income tax - at all. Try to address any of this and the public response is if someone had set out to touch up the Mona Lisa with a paint gun.
Here again, the public claims the politicians are lying and government cannot be trusted. Yet the public is the true source of the problem. They will the end but fail to will the means to the end and government is left to square the circle.
To be sure, the public is not wrong to keep an eye out on the actions of government and politicians. However, instead they manifest a faux cynicism and suffer from a severe disconnect between the ends that they demand and their willingness to will the means to the end. In that disconnect there is a gap in which a healthy wariness is replaced by an emotional distrust.
From this then follows a failure to hold government to account as the public seeks not to find solutions, but to cast blame. This then producing more cynicism in an ever growing cycle. This until the day comes when the whole democratic experiment comes crashing down because ultimately the public will hold everyone to account but itself.
The question asks how much "faith" or "trust" the respondent has in government. "Faith" is the realm of theology, not politics, law and government - and as the like of Augustine and Aquinas have shown is not mere "blind faith" but can be intellectually serious where appropriate.
"Trust," on the other hand, is a necessary prerequisite to government and politics at an irreducible level. However, as President Reagan put it in another context, "trust but verify."
Such verification requiring at the outset a public that is willing to contemplate where the source of its problems begins and the limits of human fallibility define how far trust ought to go. This beginning with a look in the mirror at what the public is demanding and how far such demands are consistent with a prudent trust.
I'm not from USA , but these days I have ZERO faith , that they act in the interests of citizens , look at what Australia govt has indirectly done to Julian Assange , and look at what he uncovered , tip of the ice berg , Its not just USA war crimes , its EVERY country including Australia which has come out with some horrendous actions thanks to a whistle blower. There is no freedom , and in these times there is no trust. You will hear all the negatives about Russian troops for example , nothing if you are USA / Australia ( same side ) , you simply cannot believe what they tell you. Sometimes you can't even believe what you see with your own eyes , the system is broken.
People are not good, therefore, one should vote them in for what they should do. This is why one Issues/Value Votes. People are either reliable or good and are there for their own self-interest. The only chance one has is to analyze voting record and see if they vote your value like anti-abortion‼️ They do NOT give a 💩 about you. And Biden is to far gone to care about his reputation or legacy…. at least Obama did
In my *own* countrys goverment I have a really high amount of faith. The US, Russian, British etc goverment... Not so much... The German one... I think they're generally trying their best. New Zealand? Likewise. The Netherlands? Likewise.
Negative actually. These days with the current administration, if the government says something, I am immediately suspicious and assume it is dishonest, intentionally misleading, and deceptive. Then I do research to determine what really is going on.
I see rings of trust. The local government I trust more because they are elected by us and they live in the community. The state government I trust less as they have to cover all of Florida. The national government I trust even less.
I trust they’ll do the exact opposite. 99% of politicians are in it for the money and will say whatever they think will allow them to line their pockets for as long as possible
Of course, there will be people who say the government doing nothing about, say, a pandemic, is better than it trying to do something. They're obviously wrong. The people who believed lies about how masks and vaccines don't work are far more likely to die than people who believe the government that says they do. It's not about trusting the government to tell you the truth the whole time, it's about expecting them to do their best to protect the population. There's a million Americans dead from covid at this point. Following the same advice as given by the German government may well have saved nearly half of them. (1,611 deaths per million, vs. 3,050). Who have consistently underplayed the danger? Republicans.
Home > Society & Politics > Questions > How much trust or faith do you have in the government to be accurate, honest, and well-intentioned over what they tell the citizenry?
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