posted on Oct, 10 2009 @ 09:01 PM
The reason we haven't abolished the government is simple. Not enough people are convinced they'd do better under something different.
For all the faults and problems with the US government, it's still better than most places in the world. There is *plenty* of room for improvement,
but overall you can live in peace and have some sort of life. In many places people are routinely murdered, either by criminal elements that the
governments can't control, or by the governments themselves. In many other places you can routinely be stopped, beaten, have your property taken,
without any justification.
Yes, this all happens in the US as well; but not as much as in many other countries. *Any* violations of rights are intolerable, but there is less of
it here than elsewhere.
Most people, most of the time, don't endure enough injury to make them want to make major changes. Despite everything, most of the people, most of
the time, find their situation tolerable, if not great. Few people are desperate enough to want to make massive, unpredictable changes.
It could happen, of course. I've seen the US becoming more of a police state, more of a dictatorship, than it ever was before. I've seen the rich
grow fatter while more people are driven into poverty and even homelessness. At some point, there will be enough people who feel they have nothing to
lose, and that might spark a revolution, or at least protests demanding significant changes.
But it will never happen as long as people value comfort over principles, or agree to accept increasing indignities and abuses. The government is
doing things now that would have started riots, 50 years ago. It will keep taking away rights, until we tell it to stop. I hope we do this before it
is too late. Otherwise, it's oppression for a long time, then bloody revolution. That always sucks, even if the rebels win.