by Steve Cook

What is a government for?

What is it supposed to do?

What is its product?

I’m not sure we, the people, have really nailed down these questions.

For sure, the Big Bucks aristocracy that has at present secured the whip hand over government thinks government should be making sure nothing gets in the way of their making even more Big Bucks and generally lording it over the planet, culling the herd, turning human beings into drones and so on and so forth.

This is fine and dandy for them, from their own somewhat deranged viewpoint, but what about the other 99.5% of the human race?. What about YOU, your family, friends, kids and so forth? What do you think government should do?

The way things are going, a government run for the Big Bucks aristocracy is going to wind the majority of us up in misery, ruin and slavery. The Big Bucks aristocracy don’t care of course – more fool them because these dopes haven’t realised that their Big Bucks depend on there being a civilisation there in the first place and a civilisation depends upon the aggregate energy, vitality, creativity, hard work, ingenuity and willingness to support and contribute of all its people. The aristocracy is a kind of parasitic entity and no sensible parasite kills its host.

As far as I am aware, no-one has ever stated what is the PRODUCT of a government. Government is composed of individual human beings working together as a group to do something or other. Well what’s that group of people supposed to produce as a result of its collective efforts? What should it produce and against what criteria do we decide what is a desirable product?

Every human activity, every provider of goods or services has a PRODUCT, the finished thing for which people are willing to give other things (or money, which represents or stands proxy for things) in exchange.

Examples, crudely stated off the top of my head:

A car manufacturer’s product is a roadworthy car or some such thing.

A doctor’s product is healthy patients.

The product of parents is a happy, healthy, capable child.

The product of an artist is an aesthetically appealing painting, poem, novel, music or whatever.

The product of a husband is a happy, fulfilled and secure wife.

The product of a police force is neighbourhood free of crime.

And so on. And a good, needed and wanted product is well received by the “consumer” for which he or she gives an exchange (money, love, applause, smiles etc etc). If the product is sub-standard, faulty or simply not wanted, it becomes very hard for its producer to receive an exchange for it (try, for instance, selling a Trabant or being a really lousy husband) unless of course, people are FORCED to pay regardless of the desirability of the product (as in compulsory taxation – and marriage for that matter).

But what is the product of government for which we the people give an exchange in the form of support and tax dollars?  And what criteria do we use to decide?

Well, we are all trying ti survive and ensure those we care about survive, so lets  say the criterion is the optimum level of personal, familial, group,  national and planetary survival attainable.

So what if we agree that the overall  product we need and want from government is:

A safe environment in which all honest people are helped to flourish and prosper.

What product is a government supposed to produce?