Follow up - What is the single purpose of government...

Posted by edweaver 9 years, 9 months ago to Politics
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The single word for the purpose of government turned into a fun discussion with many ideas and good thoughts. Thanks to all who participated. I decided to re-post in hopes that it would make it easier for all to see where I was going. It is my hope that I am not breaking a gulch rule.

I believe you can apply the word “control” to everything that government deals with at every level of government known to man. Government is not necessary to make things move because that will happen without force. I’m not advocating for more control and IMHO we have been run over with control. I’m just saying that there is no need for government except for the purpose of control.

That being said, I believe this country became so incredibly prosperous because our founder limited our governments control over the people. Unfortunately since our founding, government does what it is naturally inclined to do. It grows and consumes power.

Would love to hear more thoughts & comments

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  • Posted by Solver 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The quote, for others to see,
    "Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry."

    It seems to represent the morals of the people required to support a dictator.
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  • Posted by CarolSeer2014 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I always wondered if this is where Churchill got his comment that a tyrant rides on the back of two tigers.
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  • Posted by edweaver 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    You mean just like ours is becoming. LOL Another one of those you have to laugh to keep from crying.
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  • Posted by Kittyhawk 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Please do. It's a very interesting question, and could point us in the direction of finding a solution to government's seemingly inevitable abuse of power. Where did "government" go wrong, in the conception or the execution?
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  • Posted by Kittyhawk 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Yes, I think those are all good examples of people in government using their positions of power to control the people they allegedly serve, in order to increase their budgets and power, and have even greater control.

    "Divide and conquer" is one of their favorite techniques for controlling the masses, along with providing them "bread and circuses." And once they have control, they have carte blanche to do whatever they want; control basically equals ownership.
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  • Posted by khalling 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Often persuasion is enough. What constitutes credible threat? Think potential whistleblowers watching the Snowden case carefully. Think a speech given by a "leader" where possible future actions may significantly affect you if you do not take action a certain way. Bond issues are not voted in and local governments reduce fire and police forces first, shut down garbage collection, street lights. All are highly visible acts to persuade you to re-consider your actions. people accept more government following periods of chaos. Often the governing body is responsible for the chaos in the first place. They persuade you to not cooperate, but compete against other groups for your property rights. Eventually, groups break into small enough groups that they feel impotent, weak. IT's easy to tell them what to do now.
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  • Posted by conscious1978 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Jim, your words capture the fires of liberty within many of us. ;)

    I chose Law. It defines how government should defend and protect us. Properly constructed, it limits government to the rule of law in the protection of our individual rights.
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  • Posted by illucio 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Righteous, thanx for the spell check. True, government is unavoidable. Anarchy is utopic, there shall always be leaders and peons in any organization. Even Nature has it´s system of government, take the food chain for instance. Wolves, Lions and Dolphins, Blue Sharks and Whales organize and dominate their domains. They predate and protect, as in a human unit (such as family, residence or neighborhood, school or office).
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  • Posted by teri-amborn 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Perhaps control gives way to order in a society where every citizen is civilized like Galt's Gulch.
    In our current society, control seems entirely necessary since the phenomenon of civilized citizens seems to be slipping away rapidly.
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  • Posted by edweaver 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The word purpose is my translation for "why do we have a government". There may be many functions of government. Protecting personal property rights being on one them. If we did not need that protection there would be no need for government therefore the only purpose of government it to establish a control that an individual cannot establish. From my perspective this applies to everything government does or we would just handle it individually. The reason we are having so many problems is because the government has taken control of some much more than is required or necessary. Hope that helps clarify my position.
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  • Posted by edweaver 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I agree that a righteous government is possible and think our founders set up a pretty good one that has gotten out of control because they are exerting too much "control". :)
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  • Posted by edweaver 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    In order for government to protect private property rights it must control something. :)
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  • Posted by edweaver 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    For the government to be responsible for something they must be in control of it. And while currently the government is responsible for the things you have listed, I would contend that private business could do many of them and do it better and for less cost. Have you had a fire lately? In our area, the volunteer fire departments are charging large sums of money when you have a fire and local governments are paying annually to contract for the fire service. They are becoming a monopoly just like government.
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  • Posted by edweaver 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    One of the functions of government should be to create order but I still content that to create order one must control it.
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  • Posted by edweaver 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Funny thing is I think capitalism took care of itself until government started meddling in it. Atlas simply pointed out where we were headed. Oh how correct Ayn was.
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  • Posted by johnpe1 9 years, 9 months ago
    oh. you said "is" ... I took it to mean "should be" ...
    my mistake;;; pardon me, please. -- j

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  • Posted by edweaver 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    And with that you are correct. This poster was simply trying to start a dialog and get people to think about something that has been on my mind for some time. I get to see others ideas to see if I have missed something. There has been so many comments that I cannot keep up to them all which is awesome. But I do still think there is but one purpose for government and it is not to keep things moving. We see how that works out. LOL
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  • Posted by Kittyhawk 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Yes, I was envisioning how leadership arose and functioned in early societies. But I think the key difference between those early arrangements and what we have today is that they started out voluntary. At some point, the rulers decided they would rule and *control* those under them with no consent needed beyond what is assumed and nominal. I think the roots of government were voluntary associations, but became something much different over time, serving the purpose of a few to control the rest of us.
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  • Posted by ObjectiveAnalyst 9 years, 9 months ago
    "Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."

    George Washington


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  • Posted by CarolSeer2014 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I've thought judicial review fairly essential in keeping a check on the others branches. Unfortunately, judicial review became judicial activism in the early progressive period; apparently congress wasn't passing the right (left?) laws.
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