| One morning, a few coffee buddies, sat down to | | | | from less than a dozen to a few hundred. The |
| discuss the state of the world and what could be | | | | journey of mankind started 160,000 years ago in |
| done to fix it. We realized that the five of us were | | | | Ethiopia and ended in the over populated world of |
| powerless to do anything. Governments around the | | | | today. |
| world were corrupt, controlling and in violation of | | | | We know that today we have many forms of |
| basic human rights. This also applied to the so-called | | | | government. We have dictatorships and we have |
| democratic countries. Then one of us asked the | | | | democracies. Some dictatorships are so repressive |
| profound question, " What is government anyway? ". | | | | and brutal that people die by the millions. In many |
| We looked at each other and the conversation | | | | cases entire races have been extinct or are very |
| stopped for a moment. Had no one ever asked this | | | | close to it. On the way to almost total extinction |
| question before? One of our coffee buddies, who | | | | some humans have endured incredible pain and |
| had lived and worked in England, said he thought he | | | | suffering. They suffered hunger and starvation. The |
| knew what government was. He recalled being at a | | | | women have been raped or otherwise violated. |
| conference which was held at an old monastery. | | | | Some of the democracies are not entirely free from |
| During a break he decided to visit the library and look | | | | human rights abuses. Pain and suffering can occur and |
| at some of the old books. One book in particular | | | | does here too. |
| caught his attention. It had been written by a monk | | | | Humans have to cede certain of their rights to |
| several centuries ago. In it, the monk pondered the | | | | something called " Government ". This is for the |
| same question we had asked ourselves that morning. | | | | common good of society. In the case of a brutal and |
| " What is government? ". Is it something we humans | | | | repressive dictatorship humans cede all their rights to |
| give away or is it something that is taken from us? | | | | the government. Survival in this society requires |
| As human beings we all have a number of inalienable | | | | distrust of anyone, lest they will report one to the |
| rights. All these rights would make us humans totally | | | | authority. Dictatorships do not allow free elections. |
| free. We would not have to answer to anyone but | | | | The more brutal a government is the more rights |
| ourselves. This, however, is not possible. There would | | | | have to be ceded by human beings. Democratic |
| be chaos all around us. It would be everyone for | | | | governments require humans to cede fewer of their |
| himself without regard for others. Modern humans | | | | inalienable rights to government. Democratic |
| of160,000 years ago realized that there had to be | | | | governments allow almost limitless freedom of |
| some order if the human race was to survive. It is | | | | speech, considerable dissension and free elections. |
| impossible to say how they established the rules by | | | | The citizens of a democratic society do not have to |
| which the many small groups governed themselves. | | | | fear the government. The government fears the |
| Did the members of these groups vote on who was | | | | people because the politician may not be re-elected. |
| to lead them? It is more likely that the smartest or | | | | However, even in a democratic society, humans have |
| most powerful member became the head of a group. | | | | to be constantly vigilant that their rights are not |
| The number of individuals in a group probably varied | | | | subjugated by government. |