Government is both necessary and is evil. It is necessary, because it is human nature to be selfish. Those who are not educated (or educable) to appropriate behavior in society will attempt to cheat and steal to get what they want. The force of government, therefore, is needed to restrain such people from harming us. This applies as much to the foreign and terrorist army as it does to the common criminal. Martin Luther wrote that if everyone be a practicing Christian, there would be no need for government. However, we all know this is not so.
However, those who wield the powers of government are capable of great evil, as we are seeing more clearly every day.
The statist sees government as necessary, but not evil.
The anarchist sees government as evil, and not necessary.
I suggest that the most appropriate approach is that suggested by our Founding Fathers. Keep government as small and as local as possible (decentralism), bound as tightly as possible to a set of rules (the Constitution) and to representatives who are conscientious in carrrying out the will of the people. This way, government is strong enough to do what is necessary, and restrained from doing what is evil.
1 comment:
Government may be necessary. But what is not necessary is the modern state. Statehood is a violent monopoly on force. A state claims that to remain its land and leave its jurisdiction is illegal, even though you may have existed on your land before the state existed. A state claims the right to tax you even though you may not want any of the so-called "services" it may provide. States killed hundreds of millions of people in the 20th century and are off to repeating that, it appears, in the 21st century. Voluntary government is the solution to the modern state.
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