Questions Regarding Self, Society and Global Issues

I’ve been pondering various questions regarding governments and people, and so I would like to ask a couple of questions, so I can get some feedback.

Please state your nationality and gender.

You can be as brief or as elaborate as you want.

  1. In what way do you feel your government annoys you?

  2. In what way do you feel your government helps you?

  3. Do you feel that you (as well as the general public), receive enough accurate information regarding issues that are important to you?

  4. Do you feel the need to get involved in any social issue? Why or why not?

  5. What is your opinion regarding other people on important issues?

  6. Given the resources we have, what would an ideal social system would look like to you?

  7. Is the life you are living close to what you imagined it would be? What would you change about it if you could?

  8. On a scale from 1-10 (10 being “a lot”, maximum, etc.), how often do you think about “intellectual issues”?

Anyone care to participate? :smiley:

Please state your nationality and gender.

United Statesian, male

You can be as brief or as elaborate as you want.

  1. In what way do you feel your government annoys you? Engages in rulemaking for its own sake, just because it can. Increasingly involves itself in ethical and religious matters that are rightfully a matter of individual choice, yet refuses to address other matters that are perceived as individual choice yet harm society. Periodically screws up the economy through the politicized Federal Reserve and the ability to spend without raising taxes, by means of the public debt. No longer takes citizenship seriously.

  2. In what way do you feel your government helps you? Defense, public safety, education, research

  3. Do you feel that you (as well as the general public), receive enough accurate information regarding issues that are important to you? Do I receive it, as in can I watch the 6pm news and really learn what’s happening? No. But if I dig hard enough, sometimes I’m able to figure it out.

  4. Do you feel the need to get involved in any social issue? Why or why not? No, too cynical. It would have to be a local issue that directly impacted me and one I thought I could affect through my involvement.

  5. What is your opinion regarding other people on important issues? Not sure I understand the question. I think most people have no idea what is going on or why, until it blows up in their face and is too late to remedy.

  6. Given the resources we have, what would an ideal social system would look like to you? No idea. I am non-ideological.

  7. Is the life you are living close to what you imagined it would be? What would you change about it if you could? Pretty close. I’d have a smaller house and a bigger bank balance.

  8. On a scale from 1-10 (10 being “a lot”, maximum, etc.), how often do you think about “intellectual issues”? Depends on how you define intellectual. If you mean politics, history, economics, current events, then 9. If you mean purely intellectual pursuits like literature, then 3.

Please state your nationality and gender.
U.S. Citizen. Male.

1) In what way do you feel your government annoys you?
By infringing on my inalienable freedoms.

2) In what way do you feel your government helps you?
The government does not help me. I have never needed “help” from the government.

6) Given the resources we have, what would an ideal social system would look like to you?
Ideally, the federal government would stick to national security concerns, and do nothing in terms of education, health care, labor, etc. These systems should be administered at the state level, not the federal level. Furthermore, our economic system should be laissez-faire/free-market capitalism, with very little government intervention.

Not enough responses to gather significant amount of data :frowning:

However thanks for participating, interesting answers.

If anyone else could offer some replies it would be appreciated, but I know this looks like a school assignment so, I understand. :stuck_out_tongue:

US male

  1. My government annoys me by not having a direct national vote and voting laws.
    It’s Just wrong to let 50 states rearrange the rules so different votes have different weight. And different chance of being accepted or challenged. We need Jimmy Carter and his international monitors to watch our elections.

  2. In what way do you feel your government helps you?
    They sometimes (not enough) protect the public from big business greed and power.

  3. Do you feel that you (as well as the general public), receive enough accurate information regarding issues that are important to you?
    Sort of. I think now there is too much timidity in the mainstream media. They try to show “both sides” and let it go at that, without making it clear that one side is a tiny minority of nutballs. Like today, many papers have two stories on NASA, one that the moon landing was 20 years ago, and the other that some people deny it happened. Yes, there will be a debunking of their odd claims after the first paragraph, but they get equal exposure.

  4. Do you feel the need to get involved in any social issue? Why or why not?
    I’ve gotten involved in local issues and once ran for city council, but withdrew when I reflected that I really only cared about a couple of issues, not the whole agenda.

  5. What is your opinion regarding other people on important issues?
    Not enough attention is given to what other jurisdictions have already done with a current issue. Should we school immigrant children in their own language? This has been tried! Show me those results, don’t just speculate without checking prior programs. Too many people start from scratch like there are no precedents.

  6. Given the resources we have, what would an ideal social system would look like to you?
    Any system that strictly limits inherited wealth. Ralph Nader had a plan that nobody could inherit more than 5 million dollars. You could decide where the excess went or give it to the state, but you couldn’t keep it.

  7. Is the life you are living close to what you imagined it would be? What would you change about it if you could?
    I always thought I would be a scientist. Never happened. But I was close to scientists and realized that even for them the contacts with discovery and progress were few and far between, and always shared by other people you probably don’t like or respect all that much. Not at all like the inventor bio movies like Mick Rooney made of Alexander Graham Bell, etc.

  8. On a scale from 1-10 (10 being “a lot”, maximum, etc.), how often do you think about “intellectual issues”?
    If you’re counting health care and how to get Africa out of poverty, then many times a day. If you mean scientific things like can monkeys talk, then probably daily when I read the NY Times page. If you mean ballet and opera, then once a year when my maiden aunt comes to town and needs entertaining.