Trust. That’s what civilized society is built upon, especially the relationship between the citizenry and the government.
Well, no, the government doesn’t trust us. That’s why it has IRS auditors, forces us into Social Security, spies on us and will soon fine us if we don’t buy health insurance.
Still, the foundation of our society is that we all trust the government to handle many important things, from inspecting our food to educating our kids to deciding whether to nuke other countries. And that is why it’s time to fight back against the unpatriotic attacks on this fragile and important trust.
I’m furious with all the people making a big deal of government incompetence. I don’t want to use hyperbole and call them “terrorists,” but they’re all basically Osama bin Laden times a million and should probably be imprisoned in Gitmo until we shut it down.
Yes, apparently the government can’t put together a simple Web site, the IRS is being used for political targeting and who even knows what’s going on with our intelligence agencies?
OK, I guess Edward Snowden knows on that last point and is telling everyone, but he’s clearly out to destroy our trust. And the point is, people shouldn’t be allowed to point out that the government often has no idea what it’s doing.
Haven’t you heard that it’s illegal to shout “fire!” in a crowded theater? That’s because that can cause panic and a stampede. Even if there is a fire, yelling “fire!” still brings panic and a stampede.
Similarly, just because you see actual government incompetence doesn’t excuse the chaos you can cause by pointing it out.
We have a system in place that people trust, and it allows us to live in harmony and relative peace. That system is that we vote for whichever candidate has the best negative ads and then assume he’ll have the necessary competence for all the important things we trust the government with, like building roads, making sure we have clean water and blowing people up with drones.
It’s not that we expect the government to be particularly good at anything; we just have faith that the government has a minimal amount of competence.
But when people point out things, like how with hundreds of millions of dollars and three years, the government couldn’t even get a Web site running (I mean, scam artists who got the contract only so they could embezzle money would still have done a better job in less time), then American citizens start to wonder whether our government is even as capable as a stoned teenager earning minimum wage.
They even start to ask if the harshest punishment available for government employees — time off with pay — is enough incentive to give it the accountability needed.
Then people start to wonder if the officials who told us the Benghazi attack was because of a YouTube video, sold guns to Mexican drug cartels and have run up $17 trillion in debt while telling us not to worry about it are perhaps complete idiots with no idea what they’re doing.
So now the very fabric of our society — the evidenceless faith that our government has even the most basic proficiency — starts to unravel. People will start wondering things like, “Hey, maybe politicians were wrong, and math doesn’t only apply to my household budget but also to the government’s budget.”
What happens next, when we no longer trust our government and the direction it’s taking us? Riots. The collapse of society. People saying, “Maybe those Tea Party people had a point.” Lots of horrible, unthinkable things.
So before you viciously attack the country by pointing out the government’s blatant incompetence, think of your fellow countrymen who live in blissful peace, assuming the lawyers and bureaucrats who compose our government are smart, capable people with everyone’s best interests in mind.
Just because you see some smoke and flames doesn’t mean you need to yell, “fire!” and get everyone panicked and upset. Just sit there, try to enjoy the movie and assume someone else will handle it.
Political satirist Frank J. Fleming’s latest e-book is “How To Fix Everything in America Forever.”