Making the case for needing government

I don’t know about you, but I’m thoroughly sick of the tired Tea Bag/Conservative/Libertarian whining about there being far too much government in our lives. They would have you believe that free markets solve everything.

Yup, like lowering the cost of health care.

Whether you believe in Hobbes’ or Locke’s view of government and why it came into being, they both thought it was necessary. Locke’s was the philosophy that Jeffersonian ‘Democracy’ (large D intentional) was founded upon:

The national government is a dangerous necessity to be instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation or community; it should be watched closely and circumscribed in its powers. Most Anti-Federalists from 1787-88 joined the Jeffersonians.  

This very fact, when held up to the current Tea Party rants against the government that their beloved ‘Founders’ believed was so necessary, puzzles me greatly.

That so many Americans, who have benefited so handsomely over the decades and generations, from this government by the people and for the people, could wish it away rather than fix it baffles me.

So, I went around the internet looking for reasons that government is good.

This is going to be one of my themes in the coming months on this blog.

A case of needing govenment, and perhaps more government, certainly not less.

Here I go again, flying in the face of ‘conventional’ wisdom - if you are of the ‘conservative’ persuation - and challenging assumptions.

We all go about our daily grind, bitching about the taxes we pay, and forgetting how much we get in return - that we take for granted - on a daily basis from that awful, intrusive government.

Here is an interesting excerpt from a website I’m intrigued with - Government is Good:

Ask yourself this question: “What has government done for me lately?”

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