RE: Without the State, What Would You Write?
@jacobtothe, this made my day. it is a thought that i have had for a long time. why do we care so much about the government? what can they do at a micro level that will benefit us? Governments are about macro changes and that is why we vote for them on the basis of policies that they support.
But it is the immutable truth that our governance starts in our communities. we must solve problems ourselves, instead of expecting our taxes to do the job for us.
Even rational human beings will just forego their responsibility and lay it all on the government. i think this is a fallacy anyway. we need to be an active society without constant power mongering. if we do our jobs then we can hold the government to a higher standard.
If we build relationships at a community level then our world will change for the better. We will pontificate less about what the government is supposed to and whine even less about what the government has failed to do!
I agree only in part. Governments never represent the governed and cannot be held accountable. Society and civilization exist in spite of governments, not because of them. And that is why wasting our energy on government politics is destructive toward real progress. The opportunity costs are too high when we could be doing better things in a voluntary, cooperative manner instead.