Palmer Blevins Blog

This article is featured on Helium.com

The minimal expectation of any good government is providing it’s citizenry with adequate security prior to, during and after an external or internal threat; be it natural or by man. It is a government’s responsibility (whether it is a tribal, municipal, state, national or international institution) to be good stewards of its peoples (regardless of age, sex, religion, creed or ethnicity) and ensure that they are well protected from natural disasters, attack or other types of threat. A government can be said to be providing its people with adequate security when they are relatively safe from attack, natural or man-made disasters, economic collapse, etc.

In the last eight years, it could be said, the US government has failed in its minimal expectation of providing adequate security to the people: whether it be the Bush Administration’s refusal to take heed in regards to threats posed by Osama bin Laden, clear up to September 10, 2001; the government’s lack of preparation for Hurricane Katrina and its slow response afterward; or even the war in Iraq while turning away from the war in Afghanistan…which has made America and her people less safe. It could be considered a stretch, but I think the government’s slow and inept response to the economic breakdown prior to the 2008 Presidential Election could be considered a breach of the government’s responsibility to the people by making their lives less secure.

By doing nothing to prepare for a future economic meltdown, precipitated by the housing/mortgage crisis, and doing nothing until the last minute, the government failed in its responsibility to provide security to a good majority of its people. For the first time since the Great Depression, there is rampant unemployment, outrageous amounts of debt (both personal, corporate and national), people are losing their homes because of greed not only exhibited by Wall Street but also the individual, the American people are being divided all the more by ideologically driven individuals who are more of a problem than voices of a solution, and there is an un-American sense of not only dread, but of piping anger.

Though it is not the responsibility of a government to give a handout to individuals who are more than capable, it is a good government’s responsibility to put the will of the people over the hedonistic nepotism, cronyism, despotism and gilded greed that roams the halls of government and the financial institutions on Wall Street like a thief in the night. Because of the former Bush Administration’s callous disdain for truth, responsibility and transparency; the American people have just begun to feel the insecurity and hopelessness that many of our grandparents recalled about the Great Depression. And it is a shame that partisan zealots, who would rather see a President fail because they lost an election, are doing everything in their power to stand in the way of not only recovery, but also reform; the very individuals who stood idly by while the government shirked its responsibility of providing national, economic and labor security to the American people for the last eight years are now the ones putting up as many roadblocks as possible. It is not just hypocrisy, but a shame.

If America is to once again become like a city upon a hill, our government has got to take up the banner of providing security for everyone within its borders; and it starts by providing adequate economic and job security; all the while also ensuring adequate preparation and response to natural/man-made disasters as well as threats and actual attacks on the citizenry.