News Do you trust the word of the USA government?

[Adam]

A simple question. Do you trust the word/publicity of the USA government?

 

[Hurkyl]

Generally. Certainly more so than groups who use public opinion as a primary battlefield.

 

[member 5645]

Once again, black and white thinking.
I'm just going to vote so I can see the response. My answer is 'sometimes'

 

[studentx]

i accidentally voted no. So whatever the results are, theyre wrong

 

[member 5645]

i accidentally voted no. So whatever the results are, theyre wrong

You shouldn't have mentioned which one! :p
Ten votes, two of them wrong. Margin of error 20%!

 

[phoenixy]

I accidentally voted yes, so for Bush camp has a margin of error of 33% at this momment

 

[Janitor]

Lets see...

I do not believe the government was lying when it said it does not have a green man from outer space in frozen storage.

I do not believe the government was lying when it said it was not going to take over Iraqi oil fields and steal the crude from Iraqi citizens.

On the other hand, I am very skeptical when I hear the government talk about a "lock box" for Social Security money.

So I guess it's a mixed bag as far as I am concerned.

I know Adam doesn't like to answer my tangential questions in his threads, so he can take this one as rhetorical if he cares to. If in the next Australian election there were check boxes for Taliban candidates, would you be likely to select some of them? Is that a direction you would like to see your country go?

 

[Simon666]

I believe it was lying when it said the aluminium tubes were intended for Iraq's nuclear program.

I believe it was lying when it said the the Iraqis had tried to obtain uranium in Africa.

I believe it was lying when it said the Iraqi WMD were found while all that was found were hydrogen production trucks.

The US Army has an even lower reputation to me, ever since the Iraqi wedding mass murder its credibility has sunk through the bottom.

 

[studentx]

Someone who often lies can still tell the truth. It seems many here forget this! You shouldn't be proud to disbelieve the truth even when its told by someone you don't like!

 

[BoulderHead]

The problem isn't disbelieving the truth but rather, identifying it.

 

[Kerrie]

if those words come from the media, then no.

 

[motai]

Ive said this before, going to say it again. The justification to go to war is almost exactly like the War of 1812. The reasons for going to war are not based on actual facts (Just like the War of 1812, the war hawks of the west claimed to go to war for "freedom of the seas" yet in actually they invaded Canada... wtf) but rather on assumptions.

Doesn't it seem that beginning of the mistrust of the American government occurred during the Nixon Administration with the watergate scandals?

 

[Dissident Dan]

As I figured you were referring to bush, rumsfeld, EPA administrator leavitt, and the like, I voted no.

However, I think that most government agencies, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics are doing their best to come up with accurate reports. Some agencies are controlled by the industries they are supposed to regulate, however.

The US government is far from being all on the same page.

 

[Adam]

Well, as always, we can ignore studentx, thanks to his obvious and rather lame attempt to derail things.

 

[Simon666]

Someone who often lies can still tell the truth. It seems many here forget this! You shouldn't be proud to disbelieve the truth even when its told by someone you don't like!

Good point. That is why I believed Saddam Hussein was speaking the truth when he said there were no WMD stockpiles while many people I discussed with claimed that his frequentlies in the past "proved" he was lying again.

 

[member 5645]

Good point. That is why I believed Saddam Hussein was speaking the truth when he said there were no WMD stockpiles while many people I discussed with claimed that his frequentlies in the past "proved" he was lying again.

The past proved they were there.
The question then was "where did they go?"
Since Blix and David Kaye both say that they have no idea and can not account for them

 

[Simon666]

The past proved they were there. The question then was "where did they go?" Since Blix and David Kaye both say that they have no idea and can not account for them

The past proved they were there until somewhere after 1991. The past doesn't prove they were still there after that. I have chosen to believe the account of Hussein Kamel.

 

[kat]

I think several of you have totally hi-jacked his thread! Usually, it takes a least a couple of pages for that to happen!
Jeez, have some manners!

in regards to your initial poll, no I don't trust the U.S. Government. In fact, I wouldn't trust any government! Governments, like any "creature" have an inherent desire to propagate, and to fight for self survival...At times that may necessity putting aside the concerns of the people and putting to the forefront the needs of the government, creating a "conflict of interest".

 

[Robert Zaleski]

I think several of you have totally hi-jacked his thread! Usually, it takes a least a couple of pages for that to happen!
Jeez, have some manners!

in regards to your initial poll, no I don't trust the U.S. Government. In fact, I wouldn't trust any government! Governments, like any "creature" have an inherent desire to propagate, and to fight for self survival...At times that may necessity putting aside the concerns of the people and putting to the forefront the needs of the government, creating a "conflict of interest"

Or the needs of some special interest group. I often wonder who actually runs the government, politicians or lobbyist.

 

[russ_watters]

Best answer:

The problem isn't disbelieving the truth but rather, identifying it.

I think most people know the truth when they see it though (or at least can give a decent probability) - my biggest problem with this issue is people who ignore obvious truth.

 

[BoulderHead]

Russ,
I’m afraid I’m guilty of following Studentx off course when I made my own reply in response to his comment directly above mine. Reading the thread over again I see that Kat was correct about the hi-jacking of this thread. The original question merely asks if you trust the word/publicity of the USA government and this is something that can be responded to without delving into people’s psychological makeup. However, because you mentioned it I will address your comments in two pieces, then close by giving my answer to the original question;

Originally posted by russ_watters;
I think most people know the truth when they see it though (or at least can give a decent probability)

What I see as the obstacle here is very simple; no guarantee exists that the truth will ever be revealed.

- my biggest problem with this issue is people who ignore obvious truth.

Over the years I came to understand that it wasn’t my problem, acknowledged same, and carried on. Considering this problem through the lens of your first statement leads us to conclude such people are but only a minority. There should be some measure of comfort to be derived from holding that view.



Back to the topic;

Originally posted by Adam;
A simple question. Do you trust the word/publicity of the USA government?

US or other government, it makes little or no difference; never blindingly, always skeptical/suspicious. Government is run by human beings after all and not some benevolent entity. Human beings have their own desires and agendas, and while I may trust a government clerk to give me correct change, I have absolutely no reason to unquestioningly accept the word of another living soul at face value, especially a complete stranger I’ve never had over dinner.

 

[Cod]

In the past, I trusted the government's word most of the time. Over the last year, I've lost that trust in their word. So unless we see some drastic changes within our federal government come January 2005, I will have trouble believe anything from government officials.

 

[deltabourne]

The real question is can you trust the word of *any* government.. the US isn't all that special, you know

 

[schwarzchildradius]

I think the problem lies when politically motivated people manipulate parts of the government to make their beliefs seem credible (i.e. exactly the same paragraph from a Radical Right-wing think tank appearing a few days later in an official report from the US Treasury). In general the majority of the data coming from the government is factual, it's just that politicians tend to ignore the factual data that does not justify their fantasy worlds.

 

[Chen]

Nope. But I generally don't trust most governments, so don't take it personally Uncle Sam!

 

[selfAdjoint]

Exactly! The only difference is between those who are frank about lying and the hypocrites who pretend to tell the truth.