What is the purpose of a Government?

[glen]

I think generally people form governments for the purpose of a common defense.

 

[aswedc]

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

 

[MacBaine]

Without order, there is Chaos.

 

[Chaotic42]

To secure the rights, safety, and prosperity of the people.


Not to turn a profit

 

[Red Dawn]

To Em,ploy guys like GW Bush so they don't run Oil Companies into the ground

 

[ViRGE]

As far as I'm concerned:

To secure the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness of the people(responsibly at that, no taking away sthe right to privacy, thank you).
To provide a common defense.
To provide a better life for its citizens, through roads and other public works, education for the youth of the future, and a helping hand when your fellow citizen needs one.

Note: I leave this open ended. "common defense/better life" for example, includes defense from obvious fraud(pryamid schemes, etc), in my book

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
To secure the rights, safety, and prosperity of the people.


Not to turn a profit

yep

 

[Amused]

The only proper purpose of a government is to protect man's rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence. A proper government is only a policeman, acting as an agent of man's self-defense, and, as such, may only resort to force only against those who start the use of force.
-- Ayn Rand

 

[MacBaine]

Originally posted by: Amused
The only proper purpose of a government is to protect man's rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence. A proper government is only a policeman, acting as an agent of man's self-defense, and, as such, may only resort to force only against those who start the use of force.
-- Ayn Rand

As nice as that sounds... crime prevention works better than waiting for somebody to get killed.

 

[wyvrn]

I can tell that Amused is going to hijack this thread too.

 

To collect taxes from it's citizens so as to line the pockets of the fatheaded greedy politicians.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: MacBaine

Originally posted by: Amused
The only proper purpose of a government is to protect man's rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence. A proper government is only a policeman, acting as an agent of man's self-defense, and, as such, may only resort to force only against those who start the use of force.
-- Ayn Rand

As nice as that sounds... crime prevention works better than waiting for somebody to get killed.

Government "crime prevention" requires laws that supplant individual rights. Taking one right away to "protect" another is folly. Pretty soon, you've taken all rights away.

Freedom is never safe. Safety is never free.

 

[glen]

right, so the Constitution suggests we can raise an Army, but does it also say we can run Tv stations? Schools? Healthcare?

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: wyvrn
I can tell that Amused is going to hijack this thread too.

Too?

 

[js1973]

What is the purpose of a Government?

To give big business someone to bribe.

 

[SSP]

Ahh! Philosophy class all over again!


You think like Hobbes!

 

[MacBaine]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: MacBaine

Originally posted by: Amused
The only proper purpose of a government is to protect man's rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence. A proper government is only a policeman, acting as an agent of man's self-defense, and, as such, may only resort to force only against those who start the use of force.
-- Ayn Rand

As nice as that sounds... crime prevention works better than waiting for somebody to get killed.

Government "crime prevention" requires laws that supplant individual rights. Taking one right away to "protect" another is folly. Pretty soon, you've taken all rights away.

Freedom is never safe. Safety is never free.

I was referring to international interactions more than domestic problems.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Text

gov·ern·ment Pronunciation Key (gvrn-mnt)
n.
The act or process of governing, especially the control and administration of public policy in a political unit.
The office, function, or authority of a governing individual or body.
Exercise of authority in a political unit; rule.
The agency or apparatus through which a governing individual or body functions and exercises authority.
A governing body or organization, as:
The ruling political party or coalition of political parties in a parliamentary system.
The cabinet in a parliamentary system.
The persons who make up a governing body.
A system or policy by which a political unit is governed.
Administration or management of an organization, business, or institution.
Political science.
Grammar. The influence of a word over the morphological inflection of another word in a phrase or sentence.

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govern·mental (-mntl) adj.
govern·mental·ly adv.
Usage Note: In American usage government always takes a singular verb. In British usage government, in the sense of a governing group of officials, takes a plural verb: The government are determined to follow this course. See Usage Note at collective noun.

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


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government

\Gov"ern*ment\, n. [F. gouvernement. See Govern.] 1. The act of governing; the exercise of authority; the administration of laws; control; direction; regulation; as, civil, church, or family government.

2. The mode of governing; the system of polity in a state; the established form of law.

That free government which we have so dearly purchased, free commonwealth. --Milton.

3. The right or power of governing; authority.

I here resign my government to thee. --Shak.

4. The person or persons authorized to administer the laws; the ruling power; the administration.

When we, in England, speak of the government, we generally understand the ministers of the crown for the time being. --Mozley & W.

5. The body politic governed by one authority; a state; as, the governments of Europe.

6. Management of the limbs or body. --Shak.

7. (Gram.) The influence of a word in regard to construction, requiring that another word should be in a particular case.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.


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government

n 1: the organization that is the governing authority of a political unit; "the government reduced taxes"; "the matter was referred to higher authorities" [syn: authorities, regime] 2: the system or form by which a community or other political unit is governed; "tyrannical government" 3: the act of governing; exercising authority; "regulations for the government of state prisons"; "he had considerable experience of government" [syn: governing, governance] 4: the study of government of states and other political units [syn: politics, political science]
Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University

 

[tcsenter]

The purpose of government is to kill people and break things. Err, wait, that's the purpose of a military.

Nevermind!

 

[snooker]

Not to turn a profit

 

[BadNewsBears]

Are you joking me? Go sing the preamble or something

 

[mithrandir2001]

Spend other people's money and go into debt.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: wyvrn
I can tell that Amused is going to hijack this thread too.

i think it takes both amused and i to hijack a thread, thank you very much.

 

[Martin]

The purpose of the government is to do whatever the people want it to do.

If people want public TV stations and public healthcare, then it the government's job to provide those things..if people don't want them, then the government shouldnt provide them....


what is the purpose of this thread?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

The primary function of any government is to keep itself in power. That occasionally some governments are benign does not change this fact.