THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

What is the proper role of government? Is there a proper role? These are questions over which people have pondered since the days after the flood, perhaps before the flood.
James Madison gave us a great summation on the governed and those who govern when he said, “If Men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and the next place, oblige it to control itself.”
Our founders sought to solve this dilemma when in the Declaration of Independence they stated, “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
The founders stated in the Constitution of the United States what powers we the people would grant to our Government. These powers are listed in Article 1 and Section 8 of the Constitution. In the 10th Amendment of the Bill of Rights the founders reinforced there intent when they stated that, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
The power of our government was intended to be greatly limited. The more power and control the government assumes, the less freedom and liberty the people have.
The great contention in the United States has always been, how much power should the government have. Should the government for instance be able to declare that one group of people should be given special consideration and privileges over another group? Under any definition or classification this is clearly discrimination. The real question is then, can our government legalize and demand discrimination?
Another growing question is whether or not freedom of speech can be and should be able to be abridged based on government rulings, or the opinion of some person in government, determining what proper speech is, what is hate speech, or determining what thoughts each individual can or cannot have.
Another growing question is whether or not it should be the government, some person in the government, that has the power to decide what each individual can or cannot have; should the government have the power to mandate financial and social equity, or should that be decided by the talents, desires, goals, and work ethics of each individual?
How much power should the government have over the life of each individual? Is this an issue for government or should each individual be free to live their own life, to make their own choices, and to have their own thoughts? Our founders claimed the latter is proper. Collectivism claims the former is proper. In today’s political climate, those of us who are called right wing extremists and enemies of the state side with the founders while those on the left, Democrats and RINOS, oppose the founders. The question we each have to ask ourselves is if we believe in our founding or do we oppose our founding; do we support government that protects our rights and liberties, or do we support government that dictates what rights and liberties each group, each individual, can or cannot have.