[allenwrench]

Peak Oil, dieoff, food and water shortages, peak NG, uranium, and the rest.

Should the gov come clean with its citizens and admit Americas best days are behind it?

Or should they stay with the fantasy and keep them in the dark?

[gonfishn]

Why would we want that ?

Can you imagine the panic if the other 99.99 percent of the population actually figured out how screwed they are ?
Prep in peace and hope for the best I guess.

[FreedomSlave]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gonfishn', 'W')hy would we want that? Can you imagine the panic if the other 99.99 percent of the population actually figured out how screwed they are? Prep in peace and hope for the best I guess.

[Ferretlover]

The government would not have to come clean if:
a) they had been ethical in the first place, and
b) if their oversight committee (the voters) hadn't given them a blank check, then, looked the other way.
There will never be full disclosure; what truth that does make it to the light of day, will be discovered only with diligent searching many decades from now when it is much too late to preserve the original public intent of the forefathers, or no longer matters.

[HEADER_RACK]

Imagine the mayhem that would ensue!! Hmmmmmmm....Yes they should.

[kpeavey]

Gonna tell people who killed Kennedy? What really went on at Roswell? Where the lost Savannah A-bomb went? The truth about 911? Limits to growth? Peak Oil? Die Off?

The US govt separated itself from the public decades ago in the interests of peace and social order. To come clean on any single subject would beg the question: What else is the govt keeping secret?

A functional democracy depends on the electorate's faith in the system. Dishonesty and keeping the people in the dark is the only way to preserve that faith. The decision to keep a secret from the population was made decades ago. Once made, there was no turning back.

We've got 4 years of recession, record inflation and the highest unemployment figures since the depression. If the government reported the truth rather than hedonicly bastardized figures, foreign investors would pull their money out of the credit system and the dollar would cease to be a viable currency. The US would implode over the course of a few days.

If the people knew who killed Kennedy, would they demand retribution? We go after Cuba, Russia comes after us, the bombs start falling, everyone glows in the dark.

Explain overshoot and collapse at a press conference on Monday. On Tuesday, witness how thin the veneer of society is.

It is better that the people continue to be kept in the dark. A person is smart, logical, thoughtful, rational and can hold a conversation. The masses are scared, ignorant, ruthless, brutal and capable of destroying cities overnight.

Keep the faith=keep the peace.

[FreedomSlave]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'K')eep the faith=keep the peace.
_________________
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face--for ever."
-George Orwell, 1984

______________
Accept the Facts.[

[Denny]

The old line that people get the kind of government they deserve is very true. Has been for generations and in most places.

We like politicians who can paint a rosy picture and make us feel good. We pick them every time over ones who demonstrate their honesty and truthfulness as their first characteristic.

So, that being the case, why should the government start being honest now?

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('allenwrench', '
')Should the gov come clean with its citizens and admit Americas best days are behind it?

[Denny]

I sometimes wonder if the old time property requirements for voting were not such a bad idea. We have embraced the idea of one man, one vote, but is it really working for us? Wouldn't it better if the electorate was limited to those who have shown themselves to be clear thinking people, able to organize themselves in the world?

One of my forebears came from Ireland, dirt poor, in the 1830's, and within twenty six years, was elected as an alderman in Toronto. So, its not like the property requirements held down the the poor that much. And, the Irish were also discriminated against back then, they ended up with the worst jobs, or no job.

I don't think a property requirement should be onerous, say, just that a person has a minimum net worth of $20,000. But, then it would be a big administrative rigamarole to demonstrate and evaluate that. But, maybe worth it.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Denny', '
')I sometimes wonder if the old time property requirements for voting were not such a bad idea.

[Denny]

True, no solid barometer of intelligence, but on the whole one of responsibility, someone who has "skin" in the game as they say.

I can see as times get rough, "populist" waves emerging which will all be about wealth redistribution, and politicians pandering for votes by committing to loot from those who have to give to those who have not.

I am no arch conservative, and I really believe in progressive income tax. But, our political system has become all about sound bites and advertising gimmicks, in fact, it seems most everything is a a gimmick today.