NationStates Jolt Archive

the recent trailer for that V Is For Vendetta movie got me thinking. toward the end one of the characters says "the people shouldn't be afraid of their government, the government should be afraid of its people."


what do you think of this? is this the right attitude to have? can the government and citizen not co-exist in some kind of symbiosis or is the government an instrument of evil and anti-individualism etc, etc? or should the people indeed fear the government?
i suspect that last option won't get many votes, but hey... whatever.


(poll coming - i added the whole 'american' thing cos i want to see whether more americans distrust the government than europeans, specifically)

V Is For Vendetta movie

i'm interested to see how they pull that off. i hope they don't screw it up too badly.

my views are probably fairly obvious

I see no nead to traffic in fear, in either case. The government should love its people, and the people should love their government. If it actually is an issue of fear or anger, then something obviously isn't working.

A government is like a fire,a useful tool,but a dangerous master

http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/contrib/paladin/flamethrower.gif

A government exists to serve the people. Should it fail to do so, then the government must be removed.

A government exists to serve the people. Should it fail to do so, then the government must be removed.

I would be afraid though that most people are too apathetic to do anything to remove their government

the recent trailer for that V Is For Vendetta movie got me thinking. toward the end one of the characters says "the people shouldn't be afraid of their government, the government should be afraid of its people."

Sounds like they ripped off Thomas Jefferson's statement that "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." I'm not American, but I agree wholeheartedly with Jefferson's statement.

A government is like a fire,a useful tool,but a dangerous master

http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/contrib/paladin/flamethrower.gif

That sounds familiar... :)

Why do you care if the person is American or not?

Why do you care if the person is American or not?
i explained in the 1st post

What's that saying about government? "It's a necessary evil". That's how i view it, but i don't fear it. I doubt it fears me the individual, but ya...it should be concerned with the people as a whole

Anal sex?

Anal sex?


He said, "people as a whole", not "hole".

Get your mind out of the gutter.

It all depends on where I sit.

A government exists to serve the people. Should it fail to do so, then the government must be removed.

That doesn't really work in America.

I kind of agree with "the government should fear the people", although the Jefferson version of it is better. But if the people don't fear the government enough to be controlled by it, then it is no government, so I put "there should be no government". Those who do the jobs that the government pretends to do should be serving their costumers.

People should fear their government.

Letting it go ass wild serves no benevolent purpose.

I voted option two, but I meant it in a different sense than I imagine most other people who answered this way meant it. Since life [not economic rights] is the root of value, the merit of any government should be measured by how well it lives up to this standard.

It really depends on the situation. Generally, I think the people should fear government as the government, well, governs the people, but after all, isn't it the people that create the government? So then the government should fear the people, as they actually control the fate of politicians. In an ideal situation, the government works with the people to improve the lives of everyone. Not just the rich or poor, or stupid or smart.

I view government as Cthuluian Magic. A little bit of it is nifty and lets you exceed in geometry, but if you come to rely on it, or use it too much, then an undescribable monstrosity appears and consumes your soul shortly before going on a rampage and eliminating your neighbors.
So, yes, people should fear the goverment, because if you let it get beyond minimalist grounds it'll become unstoppable. Better to regularly quash it when it gets out of line.

I'll be the one to voice the unpopular opinion :D



The people should respect and fear the government, as observance of authority leads to order. However, should the government become a corrupt and/or evil entity, it is the duty of the citizens to usurp it and reestablish a just one. The purpose of the citizenry is to serve the state, and, in turn, the state will serve the citizenry.