The State

The State

Not being particularly well versed on the intricacies of political science and its assorted meanings, perhaps a discussion of the rationale and function of modern government is beyond my expertise, but I believe it worthwhile to discuss the purpose of the modern state and its relation, indeed its relevance to the individual. It seems that the origins of the state always start with the will of the people but quickly regress to the will of the most powerful. Even in the most democratic of systems, small numbers of powerful people inevitably end up wielding power. Perhaps the state is inherently unjust despite attempts to the contrary. But perhaps injustice is a necessary sacrifice for stability and prosperity. Any thought on government must by its very nature include universal ethical considerations, such as they are, as governments by their very function ensure order by regulating large populations. Large populations can only be governed with any legitimacy by appealing to the ethical considerations of constituencies. As such, one of the functions of government is ostensibly to protect the weak. This supposed function is often the justification of many concentrations of political and social power that we call governments. It seems, though, that the state and its central institution’s (government) main function are to ensure order even if that order must be accomplished by concentrating power. But if the state is to protect the socially weak, it must act against concentrations of power. Many have struggled with this paradox, and most have failed. For instance, the USSR could only provide for its people through concentrating power in the hands of a few elite governing individuals. But by doing so, it created a power hungry minority and began to resemble a dictatorship well before it was a middle aged nation. In the United States, the people are given individual initiative but in order to make choices, they must rely on institutions to provide economic services and products that they need. This creates reliance on and therefore concentrates power in the hands of the institutions of capitalism. Capitalism comes to, if indirectly, govern the nation.