View Full Version : Do you trust your government?
I did about a week ago, but I have been recently doing a project in my course and the tutors have taught us to open our eyes. Do you trust we are getting the full story with what we get told?
Do you trust the fact the government has power over what media we see?
I will tell you a little story (This is America but same applies) there was a theatre show to be put on during the "American Great Depression" to help keep faith in the New york citizens, they used a lot of propaganda and told the audience about how people are turning to prostitution to get a little bit of money and how they were not getting any help from the government with money!
The government heard about this and cancelled the show and made sure they weren't allowed in the boundaries of Broadway, and no one involved with the play can set foot on the stage (Long story cut short) the actors got around it by doing the play in the audience instead of on stage.
Also how do you feel about the fact the government has labelled Iraqi's and Al qaeda citizens as terrorists whereas the UK and US armies have killed more people and invaded their country more. Do you trust that our government is telling us everything, do you think anyone else will stand up to them? Or will everyone be robots forever and believing what they read in the papers?
Thought I would give a solid start off point for this debate. Lots of questions to answer there! Me myself... have turned against the government and I can understand what the world looks so down on us! The UK and the US are... to put it bluntly, Bullies!
brandstifter
09-09-2008, 07:25 PM
Do you trust ANY government, anywhere in the World?
:shrug:
brandstifter
09-09-2008, 07:26 PM
Anyone who trusts the Government should read Private Eye. No pun intended, but it's a real eye-opener.
:shrug:
Llamajohn
09-09-2008, 07:27 PM
I do, I can't be bothered NOT believing them really :p
But I do love a good conspiracy.
Recent Recycling discoveries... well! I don't really - local governments that is
Tbh as much as Northern Ireland and Stormount can cover it... N.I.... IS and will ALWAYS be a mess.... sure Tony Blair did brilliantly uniting SinnFein and the DUP... but that lasted as long as it should... so no I don't trust my government... I trust Brown more than Mc Guinness and that says something about Northern Irelands government....
:D There.
Originally posted by Llamajohn
I do, I can't be bothered NOT believing them really :p
But I do love a good conspiracy.
This isnt a conspiracy, this is full on lies to the general public. I can find evidence if people want it, I actually went as far as to sympathize for terrorists the other day. Not agree but sympathize, you get pushed in a corner by a bully and told you will die along with all your family and friends. Do you kill to live? And kill to keep your family alive.
Well thats all 'terrorists' are doing, they are trying to get media attention to get the army out of their country. It was in todays paper... the terrorists wanting to blow up canary wharf actually said in a statement "We just wanted media attention so that people would leave our country alone"
Its bullying on a large scale, and no one knows we are doing it because the government flip it to make them look like the bad people! And people in this world are so lazy or hooked up on their playstations to realize it!
They are not the terrorists, its us and our armies!
No, they lose too many details too often, and thats all we know. I'm intrigued to know what goes on behind closed doors, but at the same time I think I'd rather not know ...
Originally posted by Llamajohn
I do, I can't be bothered NOT believing them really :p
But I do love a good conspiracy.
the exact same way i feel
it's just more easy to trust them
you have to stick by your country
:thumbs2:
Originally posted by andy-dale-win
Originally posted by Llamajohn
I do, I can't be bothered NOT believing them really :p
But I do love a good conspiracy.
the exact same way i feel
it's just more easy to trust them
you have to stick by your country
:thumbs2:
My point proven, no wonder our countries in a mess. Because no one will make a stand for anything, this country has lost all meaning for individuality, what happened to the protests? Kids these days would rather start a petition about their housemate being evicted rather than thousands of innocent people being killed and us thinking its their fault when its us killing them!
Trusting the government is hard...
I always compare it to the Catholic church...
If we knew all the facts that they are clearly hiding... then trust would be easier and would cause less problems nationaly and probably globaly...(SP)
I will get abuse for comparing the catholic Church to The Government... Oh well... LOL
*Readies Self... :P*
Llamajohn
09-09-2008, 07:40 PM
Originally posted by Fom
Originally posted by Llamajohn
I do, I can't be bothered NOT believing them really :p
But I do love a good conspiracy.
This isnt a conspiracy, this is full on lies to the general public. I can find evidence if people want it, I actually went as far as to sympathize for terrorists the other day. Not agree but sympathize, you get pushed in a corner by a bully and told you will die along with all your family and friends. Do you kill to live? And kill to keep your family alive.
Well thats all 'terrorists' are doing, they are trying to get media attention to get the army out of their country. It was in todays paper... the terrorists wanting to blow up canary wharf actually said in a statement "We just wanted media attention so that people would leave our country alone"
Its bullying on a large scale, and no one knows we are doing it because the government flip it to make them look like the bad people! And people in this world are so lazy or hooked up on their playstations to realize it!
They are not the terrorists, its us and our armies!
no I didn't mean THISSS was a conspiracy..things like big red buttons what will blow the earth up, area 51 etc...the little govt secrets, citin!
but yeah..to me...ignorance is bliss, so I am fine not knowing anything =]
Spike
09-09-2008, 07:42 PM
I don't know really. I think people around the world and especially in our country expect they are being told everything and trust the government
I do trust the government, they probably don't tell us everything but would we want to know everything, maybe its in our best interests not to know.
Nah, then again its hard to trust anyone anyway. Its so easy to lie and get away with it.
bananarama
10-09-2008, 07:30 PM
To trust any Government in any country you would have to be suffering from a serious mental disorder....
Leonine
10-09-2008, 08:27 PM
Big question this one Fom. Short answer is - no I don't trust our government or any other for that matter. Power corrupts & politicians always promise the earth to get into power, then do what they want afterwards. (I was going to use the phrase 'One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter' whilst I was thinking about replying to this thread then realised you'd already used it in another thread about your essay title)
Presumably you've heard the phrase "There are lies, damn lies and statistics"? That pretty much sums up my view on politicians and their spin doctors. They can use statistics to justify anything & can twist those figures any way they want. Throw the media into the mix as government messenger boy and bob's your uncle - the public fall for all the lies and the government can carry on relatively unchallenged.
Antonio Gramsci's theory of 'hegemony' would be a good one to look up if you're having to write an essay about this. It explains how governments maintain their power & how this isn't achieved just by law & order (coercion) etc but by an idealogical hegemony where the general populace are persuaded that the government is acting in their best interests. (eg. convincing the public that an invasion of Iraq is justifiable due to Saddam's weapons of mass destruction - which it turned out were never found).
The media and other government "agents" play a big role in achieving this. So kids - don't believe everything you read and always look for the alternative 'freedom fighter' viewpoint.
Originally posted by Leonine
Big question this one Fom. Short answer is - no I don't trust our government or any other for that matter. Power corrupts & politicians always promise the earth to get into power, then do what they want afterwards. (I was going to use the phrase 'One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter' whilst I was thinking about replying to this thread then realised you'd already used it in another thread about your essay title)
Presumably you've heard the phrase "There are lies, damn lies and statistics"? That pretty much sums up my view on politicians and their spin doctors. They can use statistics to justify anything & can twist those figures any way they want. Throw the media into the mix as government messenger boy and bob's your uncle - the public fall for all the lies and the government can carry on relatively unchallenged.
Antonio Gramsci's theory of 'hegemony' would be a good one to look up if you're having to write an essay about this. It explains how governments maintain their power & how this isn't achieved just by law & order (coercion) etc but by an idealogical hegemony where the general populace are persuaded that the government is acting in their best interests. (eg. convincing the public that an invasion of Iraq is justifiable due to Saddam's weapons of mass destruction - which it turned out were never found).
The media and other government "agents" play a big role in achieving this. So kids - don't believe everything you read and always look for the alternative 'freedom fighter' viewpoint.
Fantastic post :hello:
I am actually currently reading up on '1984' which is a lot about the government, almost like todays society but exaggerated a bit.
+ Karma for that :banana:
Leonine
10-09-2008, 10:40 PM
Nice one, ta! :bigsmile:
brandstifter
20-09-2008, 08:50 AM
JK Rowling's in the news today for donating £1 000 000 to the Labour Party. This time next year, when she's Dame JK Rowling, I'll rest my case!
:whistle:
Annie
20-09-2008, 09:13 AM
Fom I am actually so glad you have seen this as well.
I was often naive of what was happening with the country and the politics behind everything. I am not as clued up as I should be just now but I have been given a little more insight.
We are lied to by the government all the time and hardly anyone can see it - nevermind people actually challenging the government about what they are feeding the public. The UK government is so tied up with the lies and 'discretion' of the US government that they think its alright. America cover up soooo much and dumb down their population so nobody questions it. Is that right?
We are all being hypnotised by the things we see in the media, on posters, tv, radio, movies, etc. Everything is passed by the government. Its an actual disgrace. We pay billions of pounds a year for people in the know of the country to live in luxury and they cant even tell us the truth about what is going on.
We constantly have blamed Iraq for 9/11 when Binladen was from Saudi Arabia. Why did we blame Iraq? America told us too. Why did we believe it all? Because we were never given all the facts.
Actually I cant be bothered with this post anymore cos I am just going to get angry about the society and country and world that i live in.
Nope. I don't trust the government. I do keep up with what's going on - it's important to know what those who run the country are up to. I don't fancy the alternative much though:(
Locke.
22-10-2008, 12:04 AM
No, I've seen 24.
NettoSuperstar!
22-10-2008, 08:06 AM
to a point they're just people or are they? oooooer joke, its only natural they'll hold things back n that, theres an angry scared mob out there who go crazy at the drop of a hat! It is right to question the Govt it is right to question everything but lets be rational and deal with facts! And we have that right lets not forget that!
NettoSuperstar!
22-10-2008, 08:10 AM
Originally posted by Fom
Originally posted by Llamajohn
I do, I can't be bothered NOT believing them really :p
But I do love a good conspiracy.
This isnt a conspiracy, this is full on lies to the general public. I can find evidence if people want it, I actually went as far as to sympathize for terrorists the other day. Not agree but sympathize, you get pushed in a corner by a bully and told you will die along with all your family and friends. Do you kill to live? And kill to keep your family alive.
Well thats all 'terrorists' are doing, they are trying to get media attention to get the army out of their country. It was in todays paper... the terrorists wanting to blow up canary wharf actually said in a statement "We just wanted media attention so that people would leave our country alone"
Its bullying on a large scale, and no one knows we are doing it because the government flip it to make them look like the bad people! And people in this world are so lazy or hooked up on their playstations to realize it!
They are not the terrorists, its us and our armies!
This is the kind of brain washing bullshine used to recruit people to the TERRORIST cause
what countries that Afghanistan?, where the Al Quaeda and the Taliban opressed millions of ordinary muslims Women werent allowed to have an education or many other basic human rights, no rights for anyone to question the regime! where 1000s were slaughtered raped tortured for not following extremist ideology!! you mean those poor freedom fighters? Do your history. Im not saying we are always right but they are far from righteous! We were wrong to go to Iraq but I think our government were lead down the garden path by the US and faulty intelligence. THEY ARE terrorists, we have just dealt with them badly and made them stronger and now people sympathize with them without having the full facts! Again check your history. They dont just want attention to get them out of their country, thats bull, they want to spread their extremist bullshit and oppress their own people. The Americans should never have deserted the Afghan people after using them to fight the Russians, the Americans have a lot of things to answer for but so do extremist terrorists like Al quaeda!
NettoSuperstar!
22-10-2008, 12:26 PM
Oh and also if you lived under a regime that extremists advocate, then you wouldnt be allowed a right to question the government or in fact question anything, if you did you'd be tortured and killed you can have limbs amputated for being gay! trust me you wouldnt want to be gay in Saudi Arabia! Women! you can forget any rights! and thats not Govt lies, thats fact.
Tom4784
22-10-2008, 12:54 PM
I tend to distrust authority in general.
There's nothing much we can do about it though I think, so I'm just gonna do what I always do. Go along with things until they don't go my way then it's goodbye England, Konnichiwa Tokyo!
NettoSuperstar!
22-10-2008, 12:57 PM
Originally posted by Dezzy
I tend to distrust authority in general.
There's nothing much we can do about it though I think, so I'm just going to do what I always do. Go along with things until they don't go my way then it's goodbye England, Konnichiwa Tokyo!
Theres nothing wrong with a bit of healthy mistrust but some get carried away and dont have the full picture
NettoSuperstar!
22-10-2008, 01:18 PM
Do you trust the fact the government has power over what media we see?
Lol I think you're getting mixed up with facist dictatorships and the USA during the cold war perhaps? and theres actually a parliament channel now, we can see every policy they want to make! Sorry to go on but its a subject I care about, I actually think your a clever guy if a little misguided. I was like that once, you always got to look for the whole picture tho and dont get stuck down rabbit holes!
Tom4784
22-10-2008, 01:34 PM
I consider the media much more of a threat then the government. Take the tabloids, the sun has the biggest readership out of all the papers, they can influence people on who to vote for on X factor and other reality shows by repeatedly showing acts in a bad light while showing a different act in an almost angelic light. They do this with politics too, They'll repeatedly slam one party while building up another to change support for different parties.
Women's magazines regurlary hate on good looking women creating faults that aren't important or non existant. This causes women to hate other women (I've actually seen this loads before, I'm with a girl and another girl walks past, the girl I'm with will start listing her faults). I don't think it would be much of an issue but the general public are idiots and sheep and are easily lead by the media. Alone we're inteligent and brilliant but when we group as a whole we'll revert back to pack mentality.
I haven't even got on to Television yet...but that's for another time.
NettoSuperstar!
22-10-2008, 01:42 PM
Originally posted by Dezzy
I consider the media much more of a threat then the government. Take the tabloids, the sun has the biggest readership out of all the papers, they can influence people on who to vote for on X factor and other reality shows by repeatedly showing acts in a bad light while showing a different act in an almost angelic light. They do this with politics too, They'll repeatedly slam one party while building up another to change support for different parties.
Women's magazines regurlary hate on good looking women creating faults that aren't important or non existant. This causes women to hate other women (I've actually seen this loads before, I'm with a girl and another girl walks past, the girl I'm with will start listing her faults). I don't think it would be much of an issue but the general public are idiots and sheep and are easily lead by the media. Alone we're inteligent and brilliant but when we group as a whole we'll revert back to pack mentality.
I haven't even got on to Television yet...but that's for another time.
yeh here here:hello: there are 1000s of SUN educated people out there its scary! That is more scary than the Govt
NettoSuperstar!
22-10-2008, 02:37 PM
and I tell you who else I trust less than the Govt. Banks, Oil companies, and Ronald freakin McDonald!!
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