What Is Government?
Jun 17th, 2008 by Micah Tillman | 2 Comments |
Imagine a person whose first language is Martian is learning English as his first “second language.” He has a basic understanding of English, but hasn’t learned “government” or the more usual governing-related words (“ruler” / “governor” / “rule” / “govern” / “in charge” / “head honcho” / “boss” / “top dog” / etc.).
Let’s assume that “government” actually refers to something, and that we could all come to an agreement on what it refers to. How would you help your Martian student understand what government is?
(Leave “purpose of government” talk for lesson two with your Martian student. A government can’t have a purpose if it’s not the kind of thing that can fulfill that purpose.)
[...] That’s the question you have to be able to answer before you can really know for whom to vote. After all you wouldn’t want to hire a plumber who thought plumbing was a kind of art/sculpture, or a mechanic who thought automobile maintenance and repair were detailing and joy riding. [...]
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