When can the people rightfully replace a government even forcibly?
Governments existed long ago ruled by kings and supported by religion as the kings supposedly got their right to rule from GOD. That was the old view of things. Then came a notion called democracy...which first really came about in a serious and large way with the american revolution...it was the notion that human beings had certain inalienable rights..it was the notion that the country belonged to the people....that while a government ruled, it was only with the permission of the people as the govt itself existed to serve the people. The USA is a Republic which is a representative democracy, which means that the people have elected representatives that serve them and are supposed to run govt in a way that represents the will of the people. With democracy, govt exists only by permission of the people and that govt can be removed by the people when the people feel that it no longer represents them. In a small way, this is theoretically why we have elections, in a large way, it could mean revolution. The problem is that elections may be insignificant because the playing field and rules allow the minority to control who gets elected or influence the people's choices as to who to choose. So for example, if two candidates are running for President and each of them had to raise $100 million dollars to be able to run, you can see how money and those with money to donate to those campaigns influence the process. When elected offficials have to run for office again in 4 years or some years down the line, they use a good deal of their time in office and policy making opportunities to make sure they please those who will give them money to run for office again. This becomes at best a weakened version of democracy, and weakened version where even though the people vote, their choices are limited to people with lots of money to run for office..people who for obvious reasons have been given lots of money by people or corporations who want certain policies and are willing to pay heavily to get them. This is not democracy. This is not government serving or representing the people. This is what we have going on now in the USA. Using current events as an example, you will notice that the great majority of americans oppose illegal immigration and support the Arizona law, but yet our president opposes the great majority, that the great majority of americans were dissatisfied with health care reform and despise the mandate that everyone has to buy expensive health care insurance at extortion like prices from insurance companies, yet our President opposes the great majority, that the great majority of americans think outsourcing of jobs to China and other countries is a bad thing for citizens and the country, most americans oppose the building of the mosque near ground zero, yet our president gladly stands up and says that the mosque must be built....etc. You can see many examples where our leaders when making policy actually quite often make policy that the people had then voted on that policy would actually have voted overwhelmingly the opposite way. In theory the govt of the USA is supposed to serve the people...which means the will of the majority while respecting and preserving the rights of the minority against tyranny. But in fact, in reality, we see that this is not the case. So the question becomes, if we have elections and change does not occur and we keep getting more and more unrepresentative govt, do the people have a right to remove the governmental system in a big way and make a big revolution like change? Yes they do, because the country belongs to the people. Sadly though, the likelihood of pro the people change happening from within the system is very small as the very people who have the power to pass the laws and make the pro the people policies are the very corrupt politicians who are bought off by big money. Its even less likely that revolution can occur for the people to take back their country since the govt has so many advantages such as a vast modern military with all sorts of weapons that the people do not have....all sorts of money that the people do not have and all sorts of ability to spy on the people and monitor their activities. This is what we have come to in the USA...we no longer are that shining beacon of democracy, but rather are the shining example of plutocratic corporacracy...which is a form of tyranny, and the bad news is that the trend is that its getting worse with each year that goes by as the plutocrats gather more and more riches and get stronger and stronger while the vast majority of citizens are falling further and further behind and getting poorer and poorer.
Government - 6 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
I didn't read all that. Fact of the matter is, the U.S. Government is not doing anything so severe to where they need to be overthrown. We have a President for only 4 to 8 years. Then they must step down. This isn't a dictatorship. So what will we have if we overthrow them? The same exact people, and the same exact system. We will still hold elections, so things would still turn out the same.
2 :
I'm not reading all of that. A short answer is any time we want. We all have a duty to protect our freedom from ALL enemies, both foreign & DOMESTIC. Any government that is taking jabs at our essential liberties is in violation, and warrant removal. The problem is the school system, and media have convinced most Americans, that they no longer need to place any value on freedom. For the sake of "political correctness" we give up our rights. For the sake of safety, we give up freedom. The media has trained so many Americans to place their greatest value on multiculturalism. I can do this all day. Simply put, the Government has been a crossed the line for quite some time. It is up to the people to wake up, and push back.
3 :
I have too much of a life to read all that. Reading the Declaration of Independence is a good place to start finding your question's answer. When the government becomes treasonous to its people and ignores the petitions of the vast majority, and ceases to represent the people the way the people want to be represented, then a revolution is justified and required. We already see some of that today - the government ignored the majority's wills when they passed the health care bill, they promised to get us out of war, but they haven't yet - so they are essentially killing their own people over nothing, and the politicians in congress claim to represent as they pass bills behind closed doors. If they continue this for another 6 years(give or take a few, let obama and the other idiots of the government leave office,...), then a revolution must happen.
4 :
I don't have time to read that much in a question. But I think you're referring to our government being in the back pockets of the plutocrats, rather than being there for us, the constituents. Remember, we outnumber the plutocrats and should therefore use our numbers and sheer size while overseeing our government and politicians. But you're right: we are living under the tyranny of the wealthy these days.
5 :
When all other rights have failed — where the government refuses to stand for reelection and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees.
6 :
We do have representative democracy, whoever makes the biggest contributions to politicians gets favorable legislation passed. You can join the Tea Party and overthrow the government if you dont like the health insurance mandate.
