The Purpose of Government

I like the article  about the purpose of government, but I would like to take exception to the comment that "...The purpose of government is to protect the Individual rights of its citizens."  While that is a pleasant concept in America of old, I don't think that is the purpose of a government.

When the family and I went to Colonial Williamsburg,  one of the best parts was a speech from member of the park where he asked purpose of government, and he didn't like the answer I blurted out from the seats.

I think most of us could accept the argument the purpose of government is primarily to keep itself in power. A government is the controlling authority of an area.  Note the definition of a Government. The more governments seek to control and manage the daily activities of their own people, they require more overwhelming power to prolong that control. Since the decline of Monarchy what authoritative government has lasted more than 100 years?

90 years?

80 years?

70 years?

The USSR lasted 69 years.  69 years of food shortages, self inflicted starvation, mass repression and the  systematic murder of millions of people. 

Today and for the last hundred years, I am not sure that our government has really had the understanding of what the founders intended to be governments purpose, but instead have slid more to the controlling of behavior view.

What I said in the Governors mansion was that I believe that government's functional role is to allocate resources.  Think about it, what is wealth redistribution?  Taxation for defense?  Space exploration?  Roads and Schools and Bridges?   Taking (by force or threat of force) money  (resources)  from people to pool it together to do something larger than a group of individuals would seek to do for themselves.

Those on the right, think the people should keep the bulk of their resources under their own control and use them as desired.  Those on the left see the population as a open checkbook for designing the world they would like to see.  An outcome regardless of the cost or effectiveness of those policies. 

Lets think about this quote.  The best government is one that governs least.