03/28/2024

Should We "Trust" the Government?

by Richard Rostron
The Response 03/28/2022

Should you trust the government without question? And what does it mean when you're told to 'trust the government?'

Someone I know recently told me, "You have to trust the government." Is that true? Is it wise? Is it expected? I understand he made that statement with a sense that we, the little people of America, don't have a lot of choice in the matter; the government is the government, and we have a limited choice or voice in what the government does.

Today, it's fairly clear that the answer to the third question, 'Are we expected to trust the government?' is a resounding affirmative. How do we know this? Because the government, and those with influence over the course of the government, tell us so.

Consider the pandemic. We've been told that it puts Americans at risk if we don't "trust the science" as that is interpreted by the government. The government has chosen the scientists we follow, and we need to go quietly wearing our masks, accepting our mandatory vaccines and dropping any questions about where COVID originated.

Looking back to the 2020 election, those in government told us that it is a "threat to democracy to question the outcome of the election." Never mind that the same people had never stopped questioning the 2016 election.

The reality is that we're supposed to question the government. We're not supposed to trust the government. This government - our American government - was designed that way.

Why did the Founders put limits on the power of the government if they thought we could trust it? The limits were created because they knew we couldn't blindly trust the government. If something, or someone is trustworthy, there's no need for limits, are there?

There are times when the government is more trustworthy and times when it is less so. The fluctuations are due to the reality that 'the government' is comprised of people. And people are inherently flawed and people with access to power are more so; as the old adage says, 'Power corrupts.'

That adage also says that 'absolute power corrupts absolutely.' That means that the more power - or, put more aptly, the more unfettered and unlimited power - the more corruption. You can bank on it, just as you can bank on people in the government operating outside of limits of trust.

One way we know when someone is less trustworthy is when they tell us how trustworthy they are. Do you trust someone who tells you to trust them, or the person who warns you to feel free watching to see if you can trust them?

When the Leftist media and Democrats began telling us to 'trust the science,' the correct response was, 'Which science?' and 'Why is that the science you trust?' When they told us not to question election results, the correct response was, 'Why not?' and 'What are you afraid of.'

The truth is that America's government was not designed to be trusted. The principles of the constitution were written with the ability to make changes. Or course, when some among us tell us to trust them to interpret the constitution, it's also a good time to ask, 'Why?'