Essay number seven: by The Midnight Writer

What Is Government

Government is necessary to create a properly functioning society. Just as money needs to have a standard applied to it in order to protect an individual’s labor, government must have a standard applied to it to protect the rights of each citizen. A government should only have two legitimate purposes. It should protect the rights of each individual citizen and coordinate tasks that are the concern of all of the citizens.

Because humans are basically flawed we can fall prey to greed, envy, jealousy and a host of other negative forces. If we want to live in a safe and secure society we need to establish laws that protect us. This requires the formation of a governing body and a constitution designed to enforce the laws that we all agree upon. It requires a judicial system to enforce the laws and it requires a police force to apprehend those who break the laws.

We have many common needs that must be coordinated. One example would be the need for electricity. If each individual citizen had to find their own supplier of electricity, you would have a healthy competition for electricity but it would present insurmountable problems on how to deliver the electricity. By having the local government own and install the delivery system, they could then purchase the electricity from a private supplier. You could then have the various electric companies compete for the business of the community in a way that would be beneficial to all of the citizens. Having the government approach the needs of the community this way would solve the problems where coordination is required.

Beyond these basic needs of protection and coordination, the government should be given no other power. When the citizens keep a watchful eye on the government, and the government is limited to just these two responsibilities, the chance of corruption can be greatly reduced.

All other aspects of society should be controlled by the private sector. The government is the most inefficient way to accomplish a task. Private industry, controlled by competition, will always find the most efficient way to accomplish a task. When faced with a task, the government should be considered the last resort.