NationStates Jolt Archive

I have come to debate this topic - so what do you all think the government's purpose is?

My reasoning is that w/o a government (But not necessarily an Anarchy), civil rights are near-limitless, however you have nothing to protect yourself with if somebody were to attempt to abuse said civil rights. IMO the purpose of the government is to safeguard the civil rights of the group (IE people), and to prevent corporate corruption.

Which it does really well right?

Which it does really well right?

I'm not talking about any government or regime in particular; I'm just talking about the concept of government in general

To ensure the capability of pursuing happiness. (whatever that may be)

The only dangers to a free market are dishonesty and thievery, so a Capitalist government's primary role is to prevent these and thus protect the market. Modern government takes a broader role, as I think it must in our modern (non-perfectly capitlist) age. Modern government seeks to protect the common morality, while preventing infringements upon the rights and thoughts of social minorities. Modern democracies attempt to prevent the tyranny of the majority while modern dictatorships generally focus only on preventing disturbances and maintaining themselves in power. The purpose of government in the mind of each person is different. To the mind of a homeless person, the role of government might be to provide for all its citizens. To the mind of a wealthy person, the role of government might be to protect personal property but otherwise stay out of people's ways. There are so many different viewpoints and so many different people that an egalitarian government can never hope to please all of its citizens fully.

origional government was not established for the betterment of the people.

Egypt didnt have elections of social rights issues

since that point, people have demanded more from their government, and less oppression

what the government has done, especially in democratic states, is justify their own leadership as "the choice of the people" (which you dont really have a choice for).

I have come to debate this topic - so what do you all think the government's purpose is?

My reasoning is that w/o a government (But not necessarily an Anarchy), civil rights are near-limitless, however you have nothing to protect yourself with if somebody were to attempt to abuse said civil rights.
Of course you do. You have friends, family, voluntary groups and most importantly private courts and security. All these systems have been successfully employed in the past to supply security without a state.

Of course if there are no institutions to protect you then you have chaos, but the institutions need not be funded via taxes or monopolistically enforced. At the moment we provide security the same way the USSR provided food and shoes with similar results. a) misallocation of resources: police used to ban drugs and prostitution instead of stop killers and rapists b) poor quality of service: slow response times and police brutality (esp with regards to minorities and the poor) c) expensiveness: a free market (note we don't have this now) provides services at ~ half the price of a regulated or govt service.

For example, some American town (forget the name) contracted it's policing out to a private source. 45 min response time decreased to 6 mins, crime fell by 1/3 and costs were halved.


IMO the purpose of the government is to safeguard the civil rights of the group (IE people), and to prevent corporate corruption.
Govt is by far the biggest source of civil rights violations and corporate corruption. This is not only a truth but also a necessary truth as outlined by public choice economics (google it).

since that point, people have demanded more from their government, and less oppression.
How can more govt mean less oppression when all the govt does is seize property and issue commands all based on the power of their guns? How is it less oppressive to lock someone up for smoking pot than for praying towards Mecca?

To defend the honor and pride of the country, while ensuring that it's citizens lead honorable, fulfilling jobs that aid society as a whole and above all, ensuring the countries future is a bright one.

The only purpose of any government is to control the use of force and fraud, by limiting the ability of individuals to impose either on other individuals against their will. The means of doing so are widely debated (socialists, facists, libertarian, communist, etc., etc.), but those are the only two purposes for any government in existance.