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"Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government;"
Originally posted by chiron613
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.
Originally posted by emosun16
That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government;
If this is true, then why haven't we destroyed our Government by now? Instead of doing what's right, and demolishing it, we've decided to follow them; willingly or not. The Government has lied to us, and kept us in the dark for far to long. Don't we have the right to give the best to our children? But how can we when we barly haveenough to pay the bills, let alone enough for a decent education? The Government has created war to blame on our problems not just as individuals, but also as a community. They've taken away our rights!! We've been promised a better world by our new president, and we've gotten nothing, just higher gas prices, and grocery bills.
It's sad to see our world go down the drain like this. As individuals we have no power, but as a whole we have enough power to make things right, so what's stoping us?
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.