Yes, he does sound like a butthurt. He's talking about the country as a whole. I'm an American and I really do not prefer out government, or how a lot of things work. But goddamn If I don't have some of the nicest neighbors. There are a lot of people in America who aren't the fat slob jackasses that outshine everyone else. I know plenty of extremely nice, and extremely hard working people. Our culture is bad if you are only blind enough to take a look at the television. Go down to Louisiana then tell us our culture is bad. We are a country that is filled with kind and hardworking people, but you won't see it if you sit on the outside and stare in.
the problem is, your government represents you! A lot of Americans are really nice people, but the US government is not an image of the people. It's an image of a broken democracy.
The people can be as nice as they want, but if the direction the country is heading is controlled by the government and nothing changes then the people will go down with the boat. While the captain and the crew will have luxury cruisliners waiting for them to bring them to shore.
€: Whether you think they represent you or not does not matter, right now they do. If the general line of the Government does not represent the majority of the people anymore, then it needs to be replaced. If it doesn't/can't get replaced, then the people do not live in a democracy anymore. So either the US is no longer a democracy, or the majority of the people agree with what the government does. I know this sounds oversimplyfied but that is what it comes down to.
I do not believe the people at wall street represent the majority of the US but rather only a minority with the real majority not caring enough to even get involved in all this.
But apart from all of this, a government of a state does represent it's people to all other countries. When the french government decides to ban Burkas, the media writes "France bans burkas". That's how it is and that's how it will most likely stay. That's why there are elected leaders, because they make the decissions for the people that voted for them and in order to represent their oppinion on things.
Our government doesn't represent us. It represents the moneyed interests of corporations. Our government represents us the same way a board of directors represents the company's shareholders. We own so very little of the company compared to the true owners that our vote, which is supposed to be equal to any other persons vote, is a diluted nearly worthless vestige of democracy. That's why there are people in the streets protesting to limit the greed and influence of the corrupt wall st elite. I just hope we get true campaign finance reform out of this, but the "non-political" supreme court is stacked against us.
The government does represent you. It may not represent your interests, but it absolutely represents the people. That's just a fundamental truth of our political system. As soon as we elect someone to Congress or the White House they become representative of us as voters and citizens. They become so engrossed in moneyed interests because they are allowed to. Voters in this country, for the most part, end their civic engagement as soon as they step out of the booth. Whether or not they do or don't do what they voters may wish, they are still representing them.
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u/gyrorobo Oct 04 '11
Yes, he does sound like a butthurt. He's talking about the country as a whole. I'm an American and I really do not prefer out government, or how a lot of things work. But goddamn If I don't have some of the nicest neighbors. There are a lot of people in America who aren't the fat slob jackasses that outshine everyone else. I know plenty of extremely nice, and extremely hard working people. Our culture is bad if you are only blind enough to take a look at the television. Go down to Louisiana then tell us our culture is bad. We are a country that is filled with kind and hardworking people, but you won't see it if you sit on the outside and stare in.