I want to be left alone (2024)

Not how I feel. I like government. I want to be left alone WITH my government-- who I think of as my fellow citizens trying to do their best.

amazing there are still people like (I mean this sincerely!) who think this way. fellow citizens trying to do their best is about as far removed of realities of my government (usa) that it is almost surreal reading your words

There are many, many US government employees this accurately describes. Well, to be clear, many of them just got fired.

There were a lot of people trying to do the best they can and doing great things until Trump started fucking that up by firing them. Now there are 10s of thousands of people getting paid not to do what used to be their jobs. and many more not getting paid at all. Trump's attacks on competency are going to be felt for the rest of our lives.

There are many levels of government that provide many levels of service.

When I encounter this sentiment it is almost always from someone that has never lived in a country with a dysfunctional government.

Despite all of the well publicized and fair criticisms of governance in the US, you still live in a place where you can - for one of many examples - count on the water being safe to drink in 99% of circumstances (I grew up in Lima, where not only was the water unsafe to drink, it frequently just wasn't on. Every house had a backup water tank. That's the level of service in a good neighborhood in the Capitol).

Go spend some time outside the US in a non tourist area, in a developing country. The level of functionality when you come back to the US will be a palpable relief.

I keep running into people working for the government who are not monsters. Who are YOU running into?

(I'm not talking about ICE or Republicans.)

I know. Someone people are so distrustful of the government that when they take it over they MAKE it untrustworthy to retrospectively prove that they were "right."