Bein' Kept Down By The Man

On their 1979 album, "The Wall," Pink Floyd asked the musical question, "Mother should I trust the government?" Well, according to a new survey, four out of five Americans would answer, "No." This eighty percent says they don't trust the federal government and have little faith it can solve America's ills. The survey also found that just twenty-two percent of those questioned say they can trust Washington almost always or most of the time and just nineteen percent say they are basically content with it. Nearly half say the government negatively effects their daily lives.
The survey suggested that this is a trend that has grown over the past twelve years. Andrew Kohut, director of the nonpartisan Pew Research Center that conducted pointed out that, "Some of it's backlash against Obama. But there are a lot of other things going on. Politics has poisoned the well."
And that's the really sad part. I remember vividly the scene on the Capitol steps as members of Congress gathered there on the evening of September 11, 2001. They all began singing "God Bless America." It wasn't an event. It was a reaction. It didn't take long for that moment of spontaneous bipartisanship to slip into memory. Over the past nine years we have experienced extremes: At first we were told that not supporting your president was unpatriotic. Now we seem to be hearing just the opposite. The wars aren't being won. The recession continues to drag on and on. What are the options? Take up arms? Stop paying taxes? Get a show on Fox News?
I would suggest this: Participatory Democracy. Vote for the candidates and ideals in which you believe. If they don't work out, know that it's only a matter of time before we get to elect someone new. Try Googling the quote "We get the government we deserve." You'll find the author of this quote to be anyone from Barry Goldwater to Joseph Heller to Eldridge Cleaver. Now who do you trust? Mom?