Government : What is it, what does it mean?
By: David K. Every
 his is my rambling about the philosophy of Goverment. These are ideals. Pragmatically, we are forced to accept a little bit of wrong, and life is more gray than black and white, but ideally we should look at things for what things mean and represent. Read this with that balance in mind. This is also from a very American point of view, most Europeans don't understand Liberty or our Declaration of Independence.
             
Government is strictly a tool of force. That is why it exists. It is a way to force people to do what you want, or else people with guns will come to their house and either take away their life, liberty or property (the three inalienable rights as discussed in our Declaration of Independence). If you don't think the Govt. is about putting a gun to a man's head, try to stop paying your taxes or break the law, and see how long it takes for the Government (men with Guns) to come to your door and take your property, freedom, and if you resist, even your life. There are many subtleties on how, and steps taken before we allow that to happen. There are differences in beliefs as to when it should be used or not (and what is justifiable force) -- but that force is what Government always boils down to, "Do what we say, or we kill you".
So the question about all our laws and govt. in general are, "Under what conditions should we threaten people with death, if they don't comply".
Some people say that we should do it for almost anything, that everything moral and economical should be micromanaged by politicians, "for the good of the people"; that the force exists to be applied, and that the strong should abuse the weak (as long as they are the strong). Ironically, most of them seem to do this under the guise of protecting the strong from the weak. Personally, I believe the opposite, that we should use force as little as possible, and keep Govt. as local as possible, in order to enable freedom, distribute and delegate power, and to teach responsibility.
Being an advocate of the poor with the toils of your own efforts, like Mother Theressa, is a noble cause. You are giving of yourself, or encouraging others to do so freely. I respect and admire that. Being an advocate of theft, in the name of the poor, is not nearly so noble; that is just a rationalization to empower yourself in the name of others. So next time you are thinking about stealing someone else's work or rights (life, liberty or property), why don't you really think about the consequences of your actions. Long term as well as short term. Think about what you want to stand for as a person. Think not just about the ends but the means of your actions. Think about freedom, responsibility, consequences, and what this nation (or other nations) should stand for. Think about what Govt. really is about.
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