Why do wingnuts hate the U.S. government so much?

[Kievan Rus]

What are your thoughts on why most of the wingnuts seem to hate anything and everything that is run by the U.S. government, and at times, seem to hate the government as a whole? They hate government programs, they hate most (if not all) government regulations, and some of the more unhinged elements hate the government altogether.

Aren't they the people that supported "the establishment" back in the Sixties, and if they were old enough to vote in 1968 would have voted for Richard Nixon, the "law and order" President? Aren't they the people that support drug prohibition and think it's wise for the government to tell a consenting adult what they can and can't put in their bodies? Aren't these the same people that thought 1984-style Big Brother surveillance was a good idea just a few years ago during the Dubya and Cheney Show?

I know they hate the government a lot more right now since Obama is President, but a lot of these wingnuts had a lot of animosity for the government even when Dubya was in the Oval Office. So why do they hate so much? I'm at a loss to explain this one.

[gmoney]

1. Taxes/Greed

Unregulated capitalism would be much more profitable without government safeguards, and taxes are the worst thing on earth. Plain and simple.

[AllentownJake]

2. They hate democrats not the "government"

Them be the people that say they can't fish with dynamite or shoot wolves from helicopters.

[omega minimo]

3. You should already know this shit.

[elleng]

4. They've got to be taught to hate and fear.

[OHdem10]

5. They been taught not to trust--add to that Politicians who reinforce

this continuously. "The Government is the Problem".

[Skittles]

6. they believe in "We the GOP", not "We the People"

[Lagomorph]

7. It's easy, popular and fun...

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2295454

[sharesunited]

8. Resentful that the Union won the Civil War, and regret the abolition of slavery.

[jwirr]

9. Many are rw christians who for years have been taught that the

government dabbling in our lives is against God's laws. They believe in double predestination, the idea that God loves his chosen ones but also has people that he has designated to be lost. Note that it is God who determines they should be lost not they who make the choice.

If you believe that then the next step is to ask, "how do we recognize those lost sinners" - "how are they different from us". Given human nature it is very easy to point out all those people we do not like and say they deserve to suffer/be homeless/hungry etc. Occasionally they make a few exceptions but for the most part they are basing their anger at government social programs on the idea that these people deserve what they are getting. God said so and we do not want to waste our tax money helping them.

I find it very hard to not hate the people who misread the Bible in this way.

[cynatnite]

10. Because Raygun said so. n/t

[abumbyanyothername]

11. Civil Rights Act of 1964. nt