Do We Deserve Our Government?

In a supposed democracy, it is easy to answer with an impatient "yes" and get on to why people make such bad choices, causing well-deserved consequences because the results are those that naturally evolve from our own freely made choices.  Even in a non-democratic society, we can blame the citizens for "allowing" the government to remain, not taking up arms and forcing it out, which any truly responsible citizen body would do if the government failed to perform to their expectations and benefit.  However, are those reasonable assumptions?  People in societies where the majority do not participate in, and may not even be fully aware of, a national government can hardly be expected to attack it for the vague reason that its actions are not what the people "deserve".  Indeed, most individuals, even idealistic ones, are not willing to risk their safety or lives for any old slight.  Furthermore, even in democracies where the citizens are, at least theoretically, having a say in who gets to govern, those elected are still human, still weak or devious, still unable to please everyone all the time.  It is akin to saying because a voter has cast a vote, he or she is responsible for everything the government does, and very few people would actually go this far in general terms, although we do have a tendency to blame supporters of one political group or another for the failures of those representatives in government, as if their support were directly responsible.

The Source said first that she regretted proposing the topic, but would do her best to work through it.  She mentioned several quotes, including "People get what they deserve," and "It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees."  The latter she called beautiful, but clarified that it is unfair to ask anybody and everybody to die for anything.  As for the hesitance or resistance to revolt from among the people, she insisted that there is a difference between resignation and collaboration, and people are not only under the influence of their own government.  There is usually some outside influence from other, perhaps more powerful governments, that can discourage people from reacting in an openly defiant way.  She also declared education to be fundamental to create a responsible and involved populace, saying politics and ethics should be taught to all in school.  She wondered why corrupt politicians win elections when they are held, and thought the Leader's points about money and government may have something to do with it, and ended by saying that people can be politically ignorant, but that does not justify others trampling their rights or legitimize a bad government. 

Our Doctor mused that there was a great deal of discussion available in the topic.  He reminded us that systems change constantly, and asked if we deserved anything at all?  Further, what do we think of as our government?  As he often does, he said everything exists because it is necessary, and government is necessary to provide order to society, meaning that any type of orderly government can be attractive to the people if it seems to provide the desired stability.  This seems to hint that we shoulder some responsibility for our governments, even bad ones, because we the people have in some way chosen them, even if this is by not actively opposing them.  Later he said, darkly, that people suffer too much and there is a tremendous amount of evil in the world.  After this somewhat theatrical introduction, he went on to say that in the case of Spain, the monarch is a foreigner and the government is separated from the people.  We deserve free expression, but we do not know why.  Democracies generate into dictatorships, because of our search for the stability we feel we deserve, apparently more basic than anything else a government might give us.  His final word for us seemed to indicate that he did believe in the tit-for-tat sort of deserving, as he told us that history has shown that if you do not have anything to eat, you need a gun.

The Leader focused quite a bit on the economic inequalities in his written thoughts, and continued down the path in the meeting.  He mentioned the constant exchange of influence between government and governed as the people choose the government that reflects society and at the same time government can shape a society to support it.  Choosing something, in his opinion, is not the same as deserving it.  The basis of the law is to protect society's weak, and be sure we have what we need.  The question is not whether the poor deserve to be sick, but whether they deserve medicine.  He emphasized the separation of the government and the people, saying that there are other interests involved that prevent investigations into corruption.  When people want to protest bad behavior by government, they run the risk of arrest or other punishment, since we are not told how to protest "legally".  The link between what we choose and how to make sure we get what we deserve is broken, or was never forged to begin with.

The True Philosopher also put the question to us: what do we expect from our government?  He noted the difference between government and governance, saying individual politicians may belong to the elected authority, but they do not always act in accordance with their stated task.  They are supposed to be public servants, but all too often they serve private interests.  Although people vote, they are not in control.  They vote for what they think is best, but the information they receive is manipulated for the benefit of the elite, who are really in control.  In his own experiences as an embedded reporter, he saw how the government of his own country controlled the news and allowed reader to know only what kept them under control. 

Other participants made similar comments, saying that we are blinded to reality by the media, perhaps under the direction of the government, or perhaps those who "really control" the government.  It seems the underlying feeling is that we do not deserve what we are getting, although we cannot quite put our finger on why.  Maybe first we need to decide what it is we deserve.