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Do 'the people' get the governments they deserve?
American Thinker ^ | 12/08/2012 | Clifton Chadwick

Posted on 12/08/2012 10:16:18 AM PST by SeekAndFind

So Obama has been re-elected. Did the American people get the government they deserve?

I spent several years working in development economics -- specifically in education for development, mostly as a consultant to The World Bank, but also to USAID, UNDP, and the OAS. One question which often was raised, particularly when the project implementation was going badly, was if national groups -- the people -- had the government they deserved.

Some specialists in development thought the question was cruel and demeaning. But many others thought that the nature and culture of the national populace were major factors in the success or failure of development projects. A look at a few examples might be helpful.

Nicaragua is a good sample. From 1979 to 1990, the Sandinistas, led by Daniel Ortega, ruled Nicaragua by dictatorship. Since they painted themselves as "freedom fighters," they got a lot of attention and sympathy from left-wing governments, particularly in Europe, who donated about 10 billion dollars to them. The money was divided up among the loyalists. No new schools, hospitals, or roads were built or paved in eleven years. I kid you not.

In the 1990 elections, Violeta Chamorro defeated the Sandinistas, much to their surprise. She came into office with an economy in ruins. During the Sandinista Revolution, per capita income had fallen by 80%. Chamorro could do little to improve the economy; she tried to emphasize education (I was briefly the only non-Nicaraguan on the National Council of Education).

In 1996, the conservative Aleman was elected. His administration was subsequently accused of money-laundering, theft, and corruption. Aleman was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in jail (which did not last). His successor, Enrique Bolanos, attempted to get corruption under control and reignite the economy without much progress.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: elections; government
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1 posted on 12/08/2012 10:16:24 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

An accurate analysis.

Mr Obama was reelected by people who want their free stuff. But there is still a very large percentage of people who want to work and not only not get free stuff, but also not have to provide for people who want free stuff.

The key is to convince the free stuff people that getting free stuff is not only dishonest and dishonorable, but also dangerous for everyone in a short time.

Here is the obstacle: free stuff people live in an information bubble, and piercing into that bubble and reaching their minds(if they have one)will be a great challenge, if not impossible.


2 posted on 12/08/2012 10:33:09 AM PST by lurk
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To: SeekAndFind

The Kenyan bought his voters and stole the rest.

The election was stolen.


3 posted on 12/08/2012 10:34:42 AM PST by y6162
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To: lurk

How would you feel about suspending the right to vote in federal elections to people who receive money or benefits from the federal government?


4 posted on 12/08/2012 10:35:18 AM PST by Tau Food (Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.)
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To: SeekAndFind

“So Obama has been re-elected. Did the American people get the government they deserve?”

Yes, Americans living in the States did get the government they deserved/deserve. Nobody got off their fat butts to fight it from the beginning.

(About 150,000,000 against a handful of crooked Feds?)

It is better to whine thinking someone else will take care of the problem rather than yourselves.

And yes, because of it you deserve it.

It is too late to say “good luck.”


5 posted on 12/08/2012 10:39:56 AM PST by GatĂșn(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)
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To: SeekAndFind

If you vote to sell yourself into slavery don’t act surprised when you feel the whip on your back.


6 posted on 12/08/2012 10:41:20 AM PST by Wordkraft (Remember who the Collaborators are.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Propaganda, outside agitators, global elites, conspiracies to overthrow the government, the takeover of an education system that propagandizes from childhood, etc., present factors which the public at large has little if any awareness of and so is susceptible to.

If I take a billion dollars, and over 10 years covertly stir up agitation - and establish key influence over schools and the media - in a “developing” country and overthrow it’s leader and instill my own puppet leader, is that entirely the fault of the population ? In truth, the real enemy would have been me, who probably lives in and is a citizen of another country, and almost no one in the target country even knows me. Short of the target government hunting me down, arresting, trying, convicting and executing me, the target country really had no chance from the beginning of my efforts.

Just a thought.


7 posted on 12/08/2012 10:46:39 AM PST by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves)
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To: SeekAndFind

Excellent find, especially this snippet....

So do the people of the USA deserve their currently re-elected government? Difficult question.
Take, for example, this quote translated into English from an article in the Prague newspaper Prager Zeitungon:
The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their president.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/12/do_the_people_get_the_governments_they_deserve.html#ixzz2EUIFpf3w


8 posted on 12/08/2012 11:02:48 AM PST by Atilla_the_Hun (Reagan now more than ever)
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To: SeekAndFind
I found this online:

Amnesty International has condemned his brutal regime and his violent tactics. In his desperation to hang onto power, Mugabe jails or kills opposition politicians and human rights workers. There is a whole body of evidence pointing to extrajudicial executions‎ and torture of journalists, opponents and activists. Opposition gatherings are frequently subject to brutal police attacks. Though originally democratically elected, Mugabe has cracked down on fair elections, with massive electoral fraud and violence against opponents.

Revolutionary leaders of independence movements usually do have popular support at first (though infighting between various factions cuts into that support). They don't have trouble winning elections early on.

But they stay in power for years through fraud and corruption and intimidation and violence. So it's not clear that today's Zimbabwe legally elected Mugabe and actually "deserves" him.

"The people" -- and everybody else -- can't focus on everything at once. If they have the right to vote in free and fair elections they may succeed in fixing one problem only to have others arise. And there are limited options to choose from.

In a sense we do deserve the governments we get, but I'd hesitate to say that it's all about some "them" that gets what it deserves and an "us" that has to live with their mistakes. Political options can be better or worse, but none is wholly good or exempt from error and misfortune.

9 posted on 12/08/2012 11:12:46 AM PST by x
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To: y6162

Stolen?
Then you should get right on this and prove it.

No, the number of idiots has, at last, become the majority.


10 posted on 12/08/2012 11:14:22 AM PST by cydcharisse (`)
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To: cydcharisse

The election was stolen.
Our problem is the GOP is soulless and spineless and will not do anything about it.

Actually I am starting to believe Romney threw this election.

But any way you look at it our Republic is no more.


11 posted on 12/08/2012 11:33:16 AM PST by Aurorales (I will not be ridiculed into silence!)
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To: Tau Food
How would you feel about suspending the right to vote in federal elections to people who receive money or benefits from the federal government?

I would be all for it, even though I would be disenfranchised as a disabled veteran receiving benefits. I think anyone who takes a check from the government should forfeit the right to vote. Also anyone who does not pay taxes. Originally, the franchise was limited to property owners. Not a bad idea.

12 posted on 12/08/2012 11:38:04 AM PST by Chuckster (The longer I live the less I care about what you think.)
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To: Aurorales

McCain threw it, starting in around July 2008. McRomney many have thrown it or not thrown it, but he certainly didn’t fight against 0moslem. Rs seem to be nothing but pantywaist weak sisters and/or closet Dems. The few with principles and courage are stabbed in the back, like West.

You expect Dems to be criminal thug commie racists. But the Rs are no opposition. We need FIGHTERS with constitutional principles. But the GOP weeds those ones out. What to do.


13 posted on 12/08/2012 11:52:54 AM PST by little jeremiah (Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. CSLewis)
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To: SeekAndFind

Are there any governments left worth respecting?


14 posted on 12/08/2012 12:00:09 PM PST by Average Al
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To: SeekAndFind
If you don't like life in Illinois, you can move to Indiana. If you don't like life in New York, you can move to Kansas. If you don't like life in Oregon, you can move to Arkansas.

What we really need is an amicable national divorce like Czechoslovakia's and a pair of nations to take the place of the failed United States: a "progressive" oligarchy for statists and serfs, and a restored constitutional republic for those of us who loved the original America.

I didn't say I think there's any measurable chance of an amicable national divorce: totalitarians don't often allow their victims to absent themselves. I predict we'll end up with two Americas or one restored America after the "progressive" oligarchy fails and kills millions of Americans in the process.

The first lesson history teaches is very few people trouble themselves to learn the obvious lessons of history.

15 posted on 12/08/2012 12:23:55 PM PST by Standing Wolf
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To: cydcharisse
First watch 8 minutes 16 seconds of video titled Romney defeated Obama - if not for voter fraud.

Then ... read and think about this.
16 posted on 12/08/2012 12:40:08 PM PST by Yosemitest (It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
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To: SeekAndFind

They get the government that those that count balance want them to have..


17 posted on 12/08/2012 12:42:29 PM PST by goat granny
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To: cydcharisse
cyd was hot. And not gullible like you.

18 posted on 12/08/2012 1:22:39 PM PST by y6162
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To: cydcharisse

fool.
Your understanding is overwhelming.
how does a man get 160 percent of the votes in a county?
how many counties had over 110 percent participation ...without ONE Romney vote?

Which also addresses and proves how racist his following is. He black? Good. It also shows how stupid they are for not voting on what the man says, just his color.

That man? IS NOT a AMERICAN. He is a muslim marxist destroyer.


19 posted on 12/08/2012 2:13:09 PM PST by himno hero (hadnuff)
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To: y6162

Would someone from Pennsylvania file a law suit against the Sec. of State for a fraudulent election? The electors are not seated until Dec 17th. Romney did not get one vote in 59 districts, that’s impossible.


20 posted on 12/08/2012 2:21:09 PM PST by freeonefrom (God bless America and our troops.)
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