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Is goverment necessary?

 
 
OGIONIK
 
Reply Thu 3 May, 2007 05:26 am
To me at least, it seems governments are more of a problem than a help.
The only problems i see goverments solving are problems that arise out of govermental existence in the first place. (war etc..)

-Without goverments where do you think humanity would be?
-Is goverment outdated in todays terms, do we even need it at all?
-Does any person OR institution have the right to force compliance of a human being to their will?
-if a person didnt want to be controlled by society or government, how would we escape it?
- and if one doesnt want to be a part of it and is forced to, is it right for them to fight/kill who or what is forcing its control onto that person?( give me liberty or give me death as he said)


to quote aristotle:

"I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law." (i take it as not everyone is smart enough to govern themselves, which basically answers part of my question)

"He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god."

"Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms."( this would be the catch to govement, corruption of it)



I dont know whether goverment itself is the problem, or we just havent found the right form of it. But im sure society is headed in the wrong direction.

*EDIT WENT OFF ON A TANGENT! FIX SPELLING LATER IF I GET BORED
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Type: Discussion • Score: 0 • Views: 774 • Replies: 12
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patiodog
 
  1  
Reply Thu 3 May, 2007 05:53 am
I think government -- in the sense of a small group of people telling a larger group of people what to do and enforcing their orders through the use of force -- is inevitable.

Thinking optimistically, there are basic needs that need to be met by cooperative action (it's in our nature, after all: we are social animals), and even if the means by which decisions about how to meet these needs are implemented is completely egalitarian, you can still argue for this as a form of government. (In fact, it would be democracy incarnate, would it not?)

Thinking cynically -- well, some people are just bastards (and most are probably capable of being so), and there is always going to be a segment of any society that aims to take all the power and all the stuff away from the other people. Some form of government must be in place to protect the rest of the society from these people or these people will themselves rule and you'll have yourself a feudal society -- which is, I'd argue, a form of government.

A more simple way to ask if it is practically possible is to ask if there is any human society in existence that is without a philosophy and body of government? I certainly can't think of one: from clan to fiefdom to republican democracy to dictatorship, everybody seems to live under some sort of social contract enforced by threat of violence and/or exclusion.
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OGIONIK
 
  1  
Reply Thu 3 May, 2007 07:42 am
My opinion is that the native americans had the right idea, just because cheif said so didnt mean they had to(but he was actually FOR his people, unlike our leaders) but things were different tribe to tribe.

And to think, we just came in and obliterated them. Its funny how things work. i wouldnt blame them if they are the ones who end up nuking america.

efficient, smart, and they loved psychadellic drugs! (haha Razz)

my kind of people!
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Cyracuz
 
  1  
Reply Fri 4 May, 2007 06:35 am
Quote:
Is goverment necessary?


No. But it's convenient, so that we don't have to be the strongest all the time.
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USAFHokie80
 
  1  
Reply Fri 4 May, 2007 07:24 am
Government is necessary in that one form or another will always arise. In a population without government, a "leader" will always come to the front, as people are sheep. That leader becomes the government. The only real question is what type of government there should be. And whatever type that may be, GW should be as far from it as is possible.
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OGIONIK
 
  1  
Reply Fri 4 May, 2007 07:54 am
good points.

Could it be said revolution will be inevitable no matter what form of government we adopt?

i havent read up on forms of goverment and their history as much as ai should have, but is there a consistent pattern in revolution/corrupt goverment?

it seems like the faster technology develops the easier it is for govt to become corrupt, and at the same time it expands our ability to communicate and people realise sooner that their govt needs reform.
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USAFHokie80
 
  1  
Reply Fri 4 May, 2007 08:12 am
I don't think technology has anything to do with it. People are corrupt in general. There is that saying: "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." And it tends to be true. Whey any one person, or many people, have too much power, they tend to want more and do whatever they need to in order to secure it.
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Eorl
 
  1  
Reply Wed 9 May, 2007 06:52 pm
Re: Is goverment necessary?
OGIONIK wrote:
To me at least, it seems governments are more of a problem than a help.
The only problems i see goverments solving are problems that arise out of govermental existence in the first place. (war etc..)


You seem to dismissing out-of-hand things like hospitals, schools, roads, law, building codes, water, electricity, defense.... (although you did mention "war" as though it was never a good idea).

Governments are extremely helpful, we just tend to take all that for granted, then focus on the bits we disagree with.
0 Replies
 
patiodog
 
  1  
Reply Wed 9 May, 2007 06:59 pm
All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
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Eorl
 
  1  
Reply Wed 9 May, 2007 07:16 pm
Rolling Eyes Spoken like a typical Peoples Front of Judea fanatic. We Judean Peoples Front members would never say such a thing...at least, not in that order!
0 Replies
 
patiodog
 
  1  
Reply Wed 9 May, 2007 07:35 pm
What ever happened to the popular front?
0 Replies
 
Eorl
 
  1  
Reply Wed 9 May, 2007 07:38 pm
Nobody liked it.
0 Replies
 
patiodog
 
  1  
Reply Wed 9 May, 2007 07:40 pm
Shhh! He's over there!
0 Replies
 
 

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