link to original reddit post by /u/whatafoolishsquid
Recently my local government decided to lower the speed limits in the city from 50 to 30 km/h and on the beltway bypass from 120 to 80. No one is happy about it, and people of all political affiliations have been complaining.
This is just a small example of something I see all the time: governments ostensibly elected by the people doing things the people don't like and would never enact themselves. So what gives?
Now, some of the answer lies in the absurd amount of unelected bureaucrats that get to control our lives as well as lobbying, corruption and suboptimal election mechanisms. However, I mostly think it's just the population's attitude.
For the past century or so, the government has slowly been able to change its image to paternal protector that knows better for us than we do ourselves, and most people buy into it. That dynamic is just asking for abuse. Consider, of course, that it ultimately came out that the lower speed limits were due to the giant loss of revenue the government saw with COVID lockdowns. They decided to make their money back by extorting an already financially ruined population through traffic fines.
Government officials aren't our "leaders." They aren't Philosopher Kings whose decisions we should accept as the decrees of some higher power like children would their parents. They are our representatives and employees. They serve us.
Unfortunately, I don't know how to push that concept into a course of action. I'm just one man, and most people around me seem defeated enough to just let their "representatives" walk all over them. What can we do?