autumnhobbit:

One of the things I loved the most about Steve in Civil War was his line about the U.N. “And they’re just people with agendas, and agendas change.” This is something that drives me insane in American politics, and just politics in general: the idea that government is inherently better at making morally-right decisions than the average person is. To put it as my Irish ancestors likely would, that’s a bunch of malarkey. Governments are made up of people who at the very least are as flawed as the rest of us, if not more. 

This is a recurring theme in the movie, and showcases a difference in Tony and Steve’s personalities and experience. Tony tries to appeal to Steve with those pens that FDR used in an attempt to cash in on nostalgia; because Tony is looking back at World War II through the common modern-day lense of “look at ‘Merica beating back those Nazis and saving the world, it’s a darned good thing the government took action back then, huh?” and assumes that Steve feels the same way. But Steve lived through World War II, and he saw what governments–including the U.S. government–did. You think he was A-okay with A cards, rations, and internment camps? You think he was completely cool with the draft? He probably disagreed with a lot of crap the government did back then. Heck, the government had him selling war bonds and propaganda in a felt outfit. He disobeyed orders constantly back then, because his orders were wrong. That’s who Steve is, and it’s not at all surprising he would behave this way. But again, looking back and not actually being there, Tony (and Coulson, and Fury, and just about everyone) thinks of Steve as Mr. American Values. Which he is, but not necessarily Mr. U.S. Government Values. 

This is the main reason I think Steve was in the right the entire conflict. Most of Tony’s actions in the film seem to be based purely on his emotions. He pushes for the Accords because he is guilty over the people who have gotten killed because of his actions. He tries to keep the team together even though sometimes it’s better to be separate on principle than together in tolerance of wrong (let alone unconstitutional) lawmaking. He attacks Bucky because he’s angry about his parent’s death and Steve keeping it from him–which, yeah, he has a right to be upset, but attacking them both and basically trying to kill Bucky without giving him a chance to explain himself, let alone stand a fair trial?? His actions can be explained, but not justified.