2 ms·

As always, the default assumption is that the government can be trusted completely. It can't. It's made up of corruptible human beings with their own interests.

• dylangs1030 13y ago
  Exactly. Historically, governments have never been an altruistic entity that helps people; rather, it has always fulfilled the Hobbesian need for order. Human beings are quite capable of being good, they may even be inherently so. But the outliers are so bad and corrupt the system so absolutely that no innovation or progress can be had for mankind without an organized system of law. Unfortunately, this comes with a consequent liability for those in charge of the system ("government") to abuse their power, deeming their short lifetimes and microcosmic plans more important than the needs of the people and the society as a whole. This is the fundamental problem that prevents utopian ideals from being plausible. This is what we need to constantly fight against, because governments are unfortunately a choice of either chaos or control - appropriately defined as "which option is less worse?" This is also why we need checks and balances. We cannot allow agencies like the NSA to conduct surveillance on a wide scale. They use fear and the threat of unknown danger to wield powers we do not know about, let alone elect to them. It is corrupt and an abuse of the founding principles of this country, and it needs to be stopped.