Don't trust government to keep deals
(My Eastern New Mexico News column from May 16, 2018- posted in its entirety now that the paper's exclusivity has expired)
President Trump has decided to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the "Iran Nuclear Agreement", and his critics are enjoying their opportunity to show concern.
You can debate whether the deal had any legitimacy, whether it was a good idea, and what breaking the deal means, but you'd be missing the point. Agreements are meaningless to governments.
Every government, or rather every person imagining themselves a representative of a government, feels they have the right to make and break deals. Every government sees itself as special and believes anything they do is justified. It's the same if the deal is between governments or between a government and an individual.
There is no downside for a government to agree to a deal, so they are quick to agree and quicker to break them when they become inconvenient. Just ask anyone who isn't a government extremist how well the U.S. government has obeyed its Constitutional limitations-- the charter which allowed it to exist. Or ask the Native people of America how well the treaties they agreed to were kept. Ask yourself what happened with Social Security numbers; promised to never become any sort of national identification number and made illegal to use for identification outside of Social Security, but which are now national identification numbers.
Governments feel no obligation to live up to their agreements while demanding you keep up your end centuries after their betrayal.
A problem with making any agreement with government is that you have no real recourse when the government tires of its end of the bargain. Even if your complaint is heard, it will either be heard by a representative of the same government which cheated you-- a representative who owes his job and paycheck to your opponent-- or by some other government. No government wants to find governments obligated to keep their end of any deal. It could come back to bite them. Obviously, seeking justice on your own would be called a crime by the government which violated you.
If you make an agreement with a government and expect the agreement to be honored, you have set yourself up for disappointment. If you expect agreements between two or more governments to be upheld, you seem unaware of what government is or how it works. Don't expect a scorpion to act like anything other than a scorpion. Not even if you consider it your pet.
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Fifteen years ago, the South Australian State government proposed a high speed expressway; it was going to cost a lot, but it was going to greatly reduce travel time between the city and the Southern suburbs.
It did, for 5 years. Then a girl failed to check her blind spot, side-swiped a truck and died.
Within a month a huge chunk of the city end had been reduced from 100kph to 80kph and even 70kph, and it'll only go down from there.
We're all still paying full price, of course.
... and where do you think the cops set up their speed traps?
Politicians lie, steal, and cheat. It is their nature. Anyone who imagines otherwise, much less plans on honesty from them, is an idiot.
Governments are not for comman men they are for comercial things.
Governments need to change their policy really they are so harsh on people.
What do you think governments were designed to do?
Very frustrating from governments.
Lot of people are suffering this governments scams god we need special rules on earth.
Governments at times keep to up deals but most fail on the originality of what they would deliver. They will promise and provide things that won't last long.