Gevernments Should Be Affraid of Their People...

I was cooking dinner last night and my sister-in-law was sitting at the table working on homework with her friend. They had an assignment for their government class where they were given some situations and had to choose a side and then label the decision as two of many options. Ex.: Are you for or against the death penalty for convicted criminals? Then label whether your answer is an example of individual rights, economic law, democracy, etc., etc., etc. One of the questions they read was about the government having power to bug telephones, read emails, and investigate suspected terrorists. My sister-in-laws friend said that she didn't think it was right while my little sis. said that she would want them to if it was a terrorist. I decided to chime in at this time letting them know that thanks to the Patriot Act their government was already doing that. Both girls looked at me as though I had just told them that President Bush and all the other elected officials spend their weekends killing baby ducks. Just another example of how well educated the up and coming voters are but what really bugged me was that my sister's friend then said that it made her feel scared. I asked her if she was scared of her government and she said yes. This is something that has been bugging me for a while and I decided to get this off my chest here. People should not be afraid of their governments, Governments should be afraid of their people. This is a quote from one of my favorite movies although I don't think that V for Vendetta writers were the first to pen it.

Our nation may be one of the only nations where the democratic process really works. Yet this does not bring a sense of pride to me at this time because I feel concerned for our nation as a whole and it has very little to do with Bush and his administration or the President Elect Obama. I worry for the same reasons as all of you and that is because none of us have any idea where this nation is headed and where we will even be next week. The saddest part is that we are the ones that put ourselves here. The democrats can't complain about Bush because they are the ones who could not come up with a candidate to beat him, just like the Republicans can't complain about Barrack because look who they put up for president as well. The fact of the matter is that we can not blow things out of proportion and we really need to focus on keeping the faith instead of trying to rely on the s storm raging outside. I guess what I am trying to say is that it is times like this that a strong testimony will bring you through the darkness of the outside and keep you heading in the right direction. And if the end of the world is in the cards in the next four years, which I don't think is going to happen, then a strong testimony will be the only thing that really matters... well a strong testimony and maybe a closet full of fire power.