Why Government?

In my last post I asked what do you expect from your government? Today I will put forth a broader idea of what the government exists for and give examples of how America has solidified this. While reading this place your expectations of government in this framework to see if it works out for you.

The government exists to protect the rights of it's citizens. But what are those rights and how do we protect them? Well that is up to the citizens. Our country has a Bill of Rights that lays out the rights of it's citizens and the concept of rights is also mentioned in the Declaration of Independance which states "[w]e hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." However it is up to the citizens to determine how these rights are preserved or if they are preserved at all.

It is important to note that the more of these rights you are willing to give up, the less able you become to protect your other rights or introduce new rights. Thus, you begin to live and act at the whim of the government. The Declaration states "[t]hat to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." It is noteworthy that the Declaration cautions that "[g]overnments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes."