Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

"Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder plot and treason, I see no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot" This is the famous rhyme that this day is best remembered for, To me this day should be an international holiday in every country of the world, for it serves as a reminder that true power does not rest with the government or the politicians but with we the people! Yes it is the people of every nation on our beautiful blue planet who hold the power and a day like today should remind the governments to be very careful, least we the people decide we have had enough!  I am including an excerpt from my book "Collateral Damage" for your reading pleasure, it seems fitting on a day like today; gov·ern·ment [guhv-ern-muhnt, ‐er-muhnt] noun 1.the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of communities, societies, and states; direction of the affairs of a state, community, etc.; political administration: Government is necessary to the existence of civilised society. 2. the form or system of rule by which a state, community, etc., is governed: monarchical government; episcopal government. 3. the governing body of persons in a state, community, etc.; administration. 4. a branch or service of the supreme authority of a state or nation, taken as representing the whole: a dam built by the government. 5. (in some parliamentary systems, as that of the United Kingdom) a. the particular group of persons forming the cabinet at any given time: The Prime Minister has formed a new government. b. the parliament along with the cabinet: The government has fallen. The meaning taken from the Dictionary.com The word government is taken from the Latin word gubernare, meaning "to govern" or "to manage". Now our governments are elected by us to manage us yet it seems that more and more governments are treating us with absolute contempt. It seems that once elected they don't have any accountability to us. Nowhere is this more apparent then in the financial management of our countries, which includes all the taxes that you and I pay. The last part of the decade has seen an amazing turn of events. Governments have been or are going bankrupt, Iceland, Greece, Spain and Italy to name a few. So how the fuck did that happen. All your income taxes your goods and services taxes, value added taxes and all the other taxes you pay all that money and what. What the hell did the government do with it all? As I look around a see schools struggling, hospitals choked, roads are a joke so where is all this money going? If your government is like mine and I suspect it is there is no accountability at all. This is my single biggest concern! I am required by law to declare my income, pay all my taxes, rates and GST/VAT. I have to basically tell the government about every single cent that I earn and every single cent I spend. I have to do this every year and if I don't I will face major fines. Well how about the government stops this hypocrisy and tells me exactly where my and every other tax payers money goes. No I don't mean a budget they are really just speculative government spin. I mean an annual financial report! I mean a report that tells me where the government is spending my hard working tax paying dollars on. I believe that I and every other citizen has a right to know. I think it is only fair after all, we have to do it every year for the government. Is the government scared to show the people where it spends all our money, we know about your big government functions, your luxury cars, your overseas meetings (think holidays). It would be a real eye opener for every citizen. So why don't they tell us where all this money goes. I always believe that the role of the government is to serve and protect the people that's it. Look after our schools, hospitals and roads and stop wasting our tax money on dodgy investments, dodgy wars, dodgy deals with other governments and big business and start looking after the people you are actually elected to SERVE! I am sure that the people in Argentina, Iceland, Greece, Spain and Italy would never have been in the situations they are in now if they actually knew how much money the government makes and how much it actually spent and more importantly what it spent that money on! We need transparency from all governments at all levels. It should be law. Transparency is a must especially in the new millennium, as we have seen and are seeing, so many countries are at crisis levels with debt and this could have been avoided if they had declared what their revenue was (remember that the bulk of it is collected from you and I) and what they then spent that money on!  An annual financial report is that too much to ask for from our governments.  I honestly believe that government accountability for our tax money should be a right of every tax paying citizen in every country in the world.  We need to hold our leaders to account for every decision they make, every law they pass and so too for every cent they spend after all it's our money the government is spending and as such I should have every right to know exactly where that money is going! Tell us tell the people your people, give us the transparency that we deserve after all you are elected by us to SERVE US! That my friends is just one of the myriad of ways that governments hold us in contempt, let's make this Guy Fawkes day an international holiday! Cheers Redi 25