
I’d like to thank those who participated in this Thought Exercise. The conclusion is going to be a bit lengthy for a single post, so I’ll stretch it out just a bit.
I’ve listed selected comments from the posts below with a few comments of my own and questions to be considered. First, however, let’s address the role of government; one I think we’d all agree with. The purpose of government is to protect and serve the Folk. Simple, really.
Comment: I don’t want my government to love me or to take care of me. They love me too much already, leave me alone!
Personally, I’m an anarchist. I’d prefer no government at all. If government there must be, my next choice would be tribal – small, clannish, and of the same race and culture. Anything larger and/or more diverse presents problems.
Comment: As several people have pointed out, and I honestly think this applies to all of our conversations … People, are the problem.
As mentioned by E.M. Burlingame, we must deal with the Resentfuls; those who cannot do, and whose envy and avarice simply cause them to act as parasites and destroyers. In a tribe they can simply be banished. Not so easy in a nation.
When I taught at the military academy, the cadets were complaining about the rules. I explained that if they were responsible cadets there’d be no need of rules. Their irresponsibility caused the need. So too, with laws levied by government. They act as guardrails against the irresponsible and Resentfuls.
Comment: You know why peoples knee jerk reaction is always against government??? It’s because they have never lived under a government that actually loves and takes care of it’s people only ones that have oppressed them… It’s like explaining color to a blind man or signing a beautiful song to a deaf person…
This comment seems, to me, the real meat of the subject. I once asked my cadets if they could name a single government, in history, that was good to and for it’s people. They could not. I have one in mind that arguably seemed to fit the bill … maybe, at least motivationally. I’ll save that for later.
As for freedom as it has evolved in the West … we have allowed ‘freedom’ to become anything goes and now we’re just another Weimar Republic. Guardrails, it would seem, are definitely required and we must dramatically reduce our degree of tolerance of the Resentfuls.
Rhetorical Question: How do we establish a government that actually loves and takes care of its people? A government that allows its responsible citizens freedom and yet erects guardrails to protect them from the irresponsible and Resentfuls?
Can we glean any ideas from the planks of the platform we’ve been examining in our exercise? Let’s see.

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