On Being Abandoned by Our Government

Ever since Ronald Reagan was president, Americans have been coddling a belief that our government is too big.

Thirty years later, our states and municipalities are walking the walk of smaller government by shrinking and cutting public services.

And now there are people arguing that we need guns because "our government has abandoned us"! This I learned in Jon Stewart's analysis of the paradox:




Does no one remember a time when we Americans valued our government services? Took them for granted, even?

I wish Americans would review Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of A Doubt, paying particular attention to the scene where a teenage girl dashes out of the house to make it to the library before it closes at nine o'clock at night! And runs through a busy crosswalk where a policeman is directing non-emergency traffic! 



I wonder if Americans will ever admit to themselves that it's not our government that has abandoned us, but we who have abandoned our government.