Are Governments Mediocre?

The primary duties of any government are the protection of lives, properties, preservation of basic human rights, freedom from fear, poverty, non discrimination etc. People always have great expectations from their governments.

How far are governments living up to the standards and aspirations of people? Of course, no government can satisfy all its citizens. However, each government need to be judged by its performance against its primary duties.

If we look around the world, we can see that almost in all countries there are some shortcomings. Many a times the lives and properties get destroyed at the hands of underworld dons and mafia. In numerous cases, governments have been spectators and have been unable to protect their citizens.

The situation in poor and less developed countries is rather grim. Whenever, hoodlums want to strike, they seem to do it with impunity. People do not have full faith in government capabilities and many times have been let down.

In worst cases, governments themselves are repressive. They are not only incompetent but also often side with criminals.

Take the cases of Afghanistan and Iraq, the two black spots on the surface of this earth. Despite a large international military presence and support, ruling governments have shown their mediocrity time and again.

Are these governments in control? There is no safety for populace there at large. Despite all the force in their command, they are not able to rein the wicked. Hoodlums seem to be operating freely.

A handful of anti social elements are kidnapping large number of innocent persons and governments are unable to nab them despite the backing of world armies and all kinds of amazing technology.

In many cases around the world, governments themselves are hand in glow with undesirable persons. Although eventually they get caught and punished, this does not deter more thugs to replace them.

The struggle between ruffians, governments and innocent people has been going on for ages and this trend is likely to continue. We see that even in major cities in advanced countries like New York or Toronto, underworld gangs strike whenever they want to and it is hard for governments to control or catch them.

The best thing that general people can do is to remain themselves vigilant and not to look all the time at their governments to come forward and get them out of their miseries. After all no government has a magical wand to come to the rescue of everyone all the time.