That is written for you to learn in 5th grade civics class and feel good about your country and your government. But is not for those printing & spending hundreds of billions of dollars.
Actually, I do know why. It's a depressing disenchantment with government.
They don't understand that government is not going anywhere, and that government can be as good as it can be bad.
The quote zmblum posted is brilliant, and it is an example of what Good Government is capable of. It is not just for your 5th grade civics class. It's for RIGHT NOW. Read the quote, understand and respect it and its authors, and take action. The government is not just them, it's also you, and sitting on the sidelines being cynical is supporting them.
No way in hell. Where, in either the future or the history books, is the saintly leader who will counterbalance a Stalin or a Mao?
The current problem with the system is that: 1) the Federal government has grown too large, and 2) the US is ruled by only two political parties that are both (at their core) about the status quo and not all that different from each other.
Perhaps the issue Good Governance vs Bad Governance would be effective/useful? (as opposed to the current axis of big vs small)
As was said by Deng Xiapong "it doesn't matter if the cat is white or black.."
Besides, even what you said is a sensible start, yet most of America seems far from having a sensible debate about Governance. From outside, every thing that happens is twisted into some sort of attack vector for ... I don't know what.
..because "Parkinson's Law works everywhere." - Mikhail Gorbachev
the irony is that Quote 1 - China Quote 2 - USSR
It's harder to have 'good government' when there are more ways for it to fail.
I'm not so delusional to think that there will be some magical shrinking of the government, but you seem to be telling me that it isn't a worthy goal, which I disagree with. You can have the goal of making the government work now while at the same time trying to trim away the useless pieces.
The debate about big vs small govt. is one of many, pointless hand-wavy, ideas used to harm your debate.
Is it wrong to point out that something is being used to obfuscate discussion, polarize opinion, and detract from getting a solution?
One can be cynical without being resigned. Cynicism is recognition of the depth and breadth of corruption and not necessarily equivalent to apathy.
But you're right that the corruption we see in the government is a reflection of our own corruption. The mess we now find ourselves in wouldn't be possible without generations of self-deception, apathy, and twisted values. We let ourselves be conned into building the world that the founding fathers warned us against. We'll likely only wake up when survival itself is at stake.