The role of government in one sentence.

[Lothario]

speaking off the record: It's kind of insane how many people think the "proper role of government is to protect the rights of the individual," and yet the fact that for the institution to exist, it must then necessarily have a moral right to tax you without your consent doesn't seem to pose any inherent contradictions for them...

 

[Massachusetts]

Thank you for all the responses! Keep 'em coming!

 

[MikeStanart]

All your base are belong to us

 

[mport1]

speaking off the record: It's kind of insane how many people think the "proper role of government is to protect the rights of the individual," and yet the fact that for the institution to exist, it must then necessarily have a moral right to tax you without your consent doesn't seem to pose any inherent contradictions for them...

Yep, this idea is burned into our minds at an early age though. It took me years to see the contradiction even when it was right in front of my eyes. Now it is so simple, I don't understand how I was ever fooled by it.

 

[Lothario]

It took me years to see the contradiction even when it was right in front of my eyes. Now it is so simple, I don't understand how I was ever fooled by it.

Likewise my friend. It's scary how incredibly genius and successful the government has really been...

 

[pcosmar]

Observed Role ?
Historic Role ?
Correct Role ?

 

[Occam's Banana]

Government is that great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. -- Frederic Bastiat, Government

 

[Sola_Fide]

speaking off the record: It's kind of insane how many people think the "proper role of government is to protect the rights of the individual," and yet the fact that for the institution to exist, it must then necessarily have a moral right to tax you without your consent doesn't seem to pose any inherent contradictions for them...

Which is why I brought up the fact that Ron often says that the purpose of government is to protect liberty. Some people will never be comfortable with allowing the tension to exist there between what Ron says at different times.

 

[TheBlackPeterSchiff]

fuck you pay me

 

[LatinsforPaul]

The role of (the federal) government is to adhere to Article I Section 8 of the US Constitution.

 

[Travlyr]

speaking off the record: It's kind of insane how many people think the "proper role of government is to protect the rights of the individual," and yet the fact that for the institution to exist, it must then necessarily have a moral right to tax you without your consent doesn't seem to pose any inherent contradictions for them...

Government is a place bad men go to control you, and they've tricked all your friends into thinking we need them.

Your definition of government is confusing to me. What you describe is an oligarchy of rulers who control others while exempting themselves from the law. That is not the proper role of government. Proper government is necessary to protect property, liberty, and peace. That is why I quoted Mises. He understood that.

"This is the function that the liberal doctrine assigns to the state: the protection of property, liberty, and peace." - Ludwig von Mises

Government protects individual's property by establishing standards and keeping them static over time. We can't use Wikipedia as a governing document because people can change the defintions or wording. If someone sells you a bushel of wheat it should weigh 60 lbs at 13.5% moisture. If you know that when you make the trade, then the seller can't sell you 59 lbs of wheat and cheat you out of a pound of flour. You can prove in court or in arbitration what the standard is.

Same for liter, meter, gallon, acre, Eagle, and Dollar, on & on, etc. Standards are governing documents. Standards can be created by the free market, but they must remain static or else cheating becomes the order of the day. That is exactly what we endure today. We have a lack of government keeping the Dollar standard static. In 1792, the Dollar was codified as 371.25 grains of pure silver. It was usurped in 1861 by counterfeiters. If government had not allowed the Dollar standard to be ignored, then the inflation tax would be virtually nonexistent and it is by far the most expensive tax collected by the counterfeiting Oligarchy today.

Laws are also required to state that no one can go around killing someone else without due process. When that is ignored then peace is no longer protected. Again, that is the problem we endure today. A guy named Barack Obama or people imitating government servants in blue uniforms can kill anyone they want without due process or punishment. Ignoring the Constitution delivers same result as not having a Constitution.

Prosperity comes from the land. It can be mined, grown, or sewn. One can dig for gold, oil, or whatever on their land. Or one can raise food, fibers for clothing, or plastics, etc. Or one could build a factory and make airplanes on their land. But land has to have boundaries which require records and land laws in order to settle boundary disputes and other property issues. Whither that is done publicly or privately makes no difference, it is still governing documents used to settle disputes ... just like contract law.

If the 'Bill of Rights' was strictly respected, then the government would be protecting property, liberty, and peace. When people claim that we don't need any government at all, I say, that is about what we have now.

 

[Voluntary Man]

"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."

 

[kuckfeynes]

The role of government, from basic property protection to socialization of entire industries, is to monopolize.