Misplaced Faith

I was listening to NPR this morning, as I often do.  (you'd think I would learn...)  One of the subjects discussed on the Diane Rehm show was the chemical contamination in the drinking water in North Carolina.  A few hundred thousand people were involved and it has been getting a lot of media attention.

I'm not going to comment on the industrial accident itself or the response from the government.  What does interest me is people's expectations.  The show's host, Diane Rehm, was indignant that the government allowed this to happen.  She was indignant that the slow government response.  She was outraged that the government hadn't provided a new solution to provide water in case this happened again.  Why?

Diane Rehm has faith in the government.  It's a belief system.  It's not based on research or facts.  She has faith and that faith is unsubstantiated.  This isn't the first time she's been shocked on her radio show by incompetent bureaucrats, nor the first time I've posted about misplaced faith in governments. 

I'll reiterate- putting your faith in government is a terrible idea.  Anyone who does a modicum of research will see it's almost always an organization that isn't worthy of trust or respect, but less faith.  Governments are full of people, just like companies.  People afflicted with sloth, greed, self-importance and who use deception to take advantage of others.  Why would you put your faith in an organization like that?  I have never understood that.

Even by government's own gauge, the government programs aren't successful.   Governments are necessary for civil society and if we understand their true purpose and how they implement laws and set our expectations accordingly, then we won't be disappointed when they continuously fail to meet them.