Citizen In my eyes the government should put the people first 100% of the time. If leaders don’t make decisions based on what the people want, it leads to an unbalance and a disconnect between the people and government. That’s why so many people today distrust the government because they feels as if the government doesn’t represent them, like their voice Isn’t heard. People in power should be the first ones to help in times of trouble.
They should be a rock and bright light for those who feel hopeless. People In power should assist in every possible way In times of tragedy because Its shows that you care about the everyday person, not Just the person that cast a vote. In America, the President should be the one everybody can count on to be a symbol of hope and freedom. After all, the President is the leader of the free world. All in all, people in power should always have the best interest of the people in mind and should always be an honest and reliable outlet for their people.
In Citizen, the government isn’t reliable at all. It takes days at a times for help to come for those who were left behind and the government officials who are there mistreat and ignore the people of New Orleans like they are animals or a foreign species. The government’s role in the book is different from what I expect from people In people. At the end of the day, the government’s role is to rule and regulate among the people. Not take charge of the people It Is a big difference.
What I mean by rule and regulate Is that the government should basically make life better for the people: regardless of whether it’s during times of tragedy or day to day operations. Government should help, maintain and restore not ignore, discriminate and make excuses. For example, during the aftermath of Hurricane Strain, George Bush caught a bunch of backlash because of how long it took him to check on the city of New Orleans after it had experienced one of the nation’s biggest natural disasters of all- time. Leaders should always be present during time of trouble to show that you care and that the people can make it through.
Throughout “Sellout”, the government continuously falls to show compassion and service to the struggling citizens of New Orleans. There are more than one Instances where Sellout himself tried to get help and nobody ever came to his aid. After struggling to find help, Sellout finally finds an officer and the officer offers him no soldiers lowered his gun. The other kept his trained on Citizen. We can’t help you,’ he said. ‘Go to SST. Charles” (Egger 134). Citizen is so befuddled by the fact that the officers refuse to help, that he thinks they misheard him.
After repeating his cry for help the officer said “Not our problem,” the soldier said. ‘Go to SST. Charles” (Egger 134). The ‘government’, the people that were supposed to help them repeatedly raised guns at Citizen and turned him away. During times of trouble, there was nobody to help Citizen. He helped more people than the government officials and officers he asked. There should never be a time when government officials turn sick, hungry, displaced people away from help. Nobody in America should have to be refugees in their own hometown.
