On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 05:44:26 -0500, Sam Ewalt wrote: > Thank you, Glenn. "Imagine" is a wonderful, important song. Peace will > be found first in our own hearts.
Very true. > But, in my humble opinion the world is not yet ready to abolish > government. The only hope for the world is democracy--a fair and > just self government. Democracy -- government by the people -- can not possibly work except in very small communities. The reason is simple: it is impossible to get ALL the people together to discuss and agree on ALL matters that need deciding. The best we can do is a REPRESENTATIVE democracy, where groups of people select one of their number to represent them in the government. This is the most common form of government these days and in theory it is an excellent system. Unfortunately it falls down when the "representatives" form parties, with their policies all too often devised to suit those who want power, or those who donate the most money to the party. The truth is that there is no one system of government that IN ITSELF is better or worse than any other system. It all depends on how these different systems are administered. The very best system of government is a benevolent dictatorship; the very worst is a malevolent one. > We have only to look at places in the world that have no functioning > government to see that chaos, lawlessness, and gang warfare in the > streets is what happens now when government is abolished altogether. No only in places where there is no government, but also places where the government is driven by personal greed. > No, we need responsible government--a rule of law that respects the > rights of individuals to be safe and secure in their persons, homes > and families and lets them pursue happiness as they see fit without > infringing on the rights of their neighbor to do the same. Lovely thoughts. Has such a government ever existed? Could it ever exist without being taken over by the power-mongers? Greg -- Arachne V1.71;UE01, NON-COMMERCIAL copy, http://arachne.cz/
