| » More Buzz |  | |  | | 
11-04-2008, 04:54 PM
|
#1 (permalink)
| | Council Member
Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Gender: 
Posts: 1,109
Country:  Level up: 59%, 82 Points needed | Thanks: 16
Thanked 2,986 Times in 912 Posts
| Lets start with the basics
What do you think the purpose and/or function of government is?
| 
|   | |
11-04-2008, 05:20 PM
|
#2 (permalink)
| | Partisan
Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Los Angeles
Gender:
Posts: 15,527
Country:  Points: 52,285, Level: 100 | Level up: 0%, 0 Points needed | Thanks: 388
Thanked 989 Times in 831 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Nwolfe35  What do you think the purpose and/or function of government is? | In a democracy it's whatever the people decide it should be.
__________________
| 
| | |
11-04-2008, 07:40 PM
|
#3 (permalink)
| | EXPLETIVE DELETED
Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: In my skin
Gender:
Posts: 20,237
Country: Points: 55,462, Level: 100 | Level up: 0%, 0 Points needed | Thanks: 1,901
Thanked 1,682 Times in 1,459 Posts
| Wow that's quite a vague question for something that has grown to have so many meanings to so many people. Like Gary said, it means many things to many people. To me, any action of the government should at least make logical sense.
For example pregnant men and gay marriage do not make sense.
__________________
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
Buddha
Last edited by fxashun; 11-05-2008 at 05:20 AM.
| |
| | |
11-04-2008, 08:02 PM
|
#4 (permalink)
| | Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Dallas area, TX
Gender: 
Posts: 1,344
Country: Level up: 83%, 34 Points needed | Thanks: 1,617
Thanked 2,069 Times in 985 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Nwolfe35 What do you think the purpose and/or function of government is? | I think this sums it up nicely. FederalRepublic.net What is the Purpose of Government? Quote:
Therefore, it is in the best interest of the people to unite and form a device or government, to protect their rights as human beings. This theory is further explained by Alexander Hamilton in Federalist #15. He states, “Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.”
We can further elaborate on this principle. John Locke in his Second Treatise on Government explains that civil society was created for the purpose of protecting property. In this principle, he examines the origin of the word “property,” which when translated into Latin, means “one’s own” or “oneself.” In this, Locke concluded the purpose of government was to protect life, liberty, and property. |
__________________ PROPAGANDA: What lies behind us and lies before us are small matters compared to what lies right to our faces. FactCheck.org - Check it out! | |
| | | The Following User Says Thank You to Tirya For This Useful Post: | | |
11-04-2008, 08:13 PM
|
#5 (permalink)
| | Council Member
Join Date: May 2007 Location: Wyoming
Gender:
Posts: 1,878
Country: Level up: 29%, 142 Points needed | Thanks: 0
Thanked 49 Times in 45 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Nwolfe35 What do you think the purpose and/or function of government is? |
To give bureaucrats cushy jobs with great retirement benefits.
__________________
If at first you don’t succeed – try, try again and then quit. There’s no sense in making a damned fool of yourself. – W.C. Fields
| |
| | | The Following User Says Thank You to mytmouse57 For This Useful Post: | | |
11-04-2008, 08:24 PM
|
#6 (permalink)
| | Council Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Gender:
Posts: 1,384
Country: Level up: 96%, 14 Points needed | Thanks: 33
Thanked 386 Times in 157 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Nwolfe35 What do you think the purpose and/or function of government is? | I believe as John Stuart Mill stated in "On Liberty":
"...the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others." | |
| | |
11-05-2008, 09:28 PM
|
#7 (permalink)
| | Council Member
Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Gender:
Posts: 1,109
Country: Level up: 59%, 82 Points needed | Thanks: 16
Thanked 2,986 Times in 912 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by garysher In a democracy it's whatever the people decide it should be. | Quote:
Originally Posted by fxashun Wow that's quite a vague question for something that has grown to have so many meanings to so many people. Like Gary said, it means many things to many people. To me, any action of the government should at least make logical sense.
For example pregnant men and gay marriage do not make sense. | Despite the fact that the purpose of government is clearly spelled out in the Declaration of Independence...
"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."
Do you honestly think that the men who wrote those words, and signed the document that they are a part of, thought that the purpose of government was to "be whatever the people should decide it should be"? | |
| | | The Following User Says Thank You to Nwolfe35 For This Useful Post: | | |
11-05-2008, 09:33 PM
|
#8 (permalink)
| | Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Dallas area, TX
Gender:
Posts: 1,344
Country: Level up: 83%, 34 Points needed | Thanks: 1,617
Thanked 2,069 Times in 985 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Nwolfe35 Despite the fact that the purpose of government is clearly spelled out in the Declaration of Independence...
"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."
Do you honestly think that the men who wrote those words, and signed the document that they are a part of, thought that the purpose of government was to "be whatever the people should decide it should be"? | Of course! Providing, of course, that it's what makes THEM happy, and if it makes them happy to deny rights to others because they think their lifestyles are "yucky" then that's what the Founding Fathers meant, right?
The Founding Fathers sure couldn't have meant that Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness applied to EVERYONE. Just to straight white males. 
__________________ PROPAGANDA: What lies behind us and lies before us are small matters compared to what lies right to our faces. FactCheck.org - Check it out! | |
| | | The Following User Says Thank You to Tirya For This Useful Post: | | |
11-06-2008, 08:15 AM
|
#9 (permalink)
| | EXPLETIVE DELETED
Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: In my skin
Gender:
Posts: 20,237
Country: Points: 55,462, Level: 100 | Level up: 0%, 0 Points needed | Thanks: 1,901
Thanked 1,682 Times in 1,459 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Tirya Of course! Providing, of course, that it's what makes THEM happy, and if it makes them happy to deny rights to others because they think their lifestyles are "yucky" then that's what the Founding Fathers meant, right?
The Founding Fathers sure couldn't have meant that Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness applied to EVERYONE. Just to straight white males. | Let's see, women couldn't vote, Black people weren't citizens, and the American Indians were eradicated. I don't know. Looks like the Founding Fathers might have argued about a lot more than the "marriage" that I object to.
Your argument fails if you really want to go back to the original creators of the document.
__________________
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
Buddha | |
| | |
11-06-2008, 08:28 AM
|
#10 (permalink)
| | The Manly Man, Your Lord
Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Pensacola, FL
Gender:
Posts: 11,744
Country: Points: 37,339, Level: 100 | Level up: 0%, 0 Points needed | Thanks: 108
Thanked 2,284 Times in 1,554 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Nwolfe35 What do you think the purpose and/or function of government is? | To protect white middle to upper income men who are clean cut in appearance and are conservative Christians. | |
| | | |
| Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes |  Linear Mode |
|
