Necessary Evil

In 1776 Thomas Paine anonymously published 'Common Sense'. It helped support the cause for American independence. His eighth paragraph starts with this sentence: "Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer." It's a great sentence, and is a good start to how almost everyone gets government wrong.

If we look at government as a necessary evil, then we have two parts, just two words. One group of people forget or ignore the word necessary, and another group of people forget or ignore the word evil. Both are wrong.

Anarchists, libertarians, classical liberals, and individualists in general think that government is bad. They are correct. Logically they think, if the government is bad, and getting rid of bad things is good, then it would be good to get rid of the government. This is a great example of how people trick themselves and others with logic. They either don't think about the consequences, or they are delusional about human nature and the consequences. The basic state of humanity is tribal warfare between groups, and internal conflict for dominance within the group. Normally anarchists and libertarians are delusional and deny human nature, which is why they forget or ignore the word necessary.

Paine acknowledges the necessity of government in 'Common Sense' by saying: "For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform, and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver; but that not being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish means for the protection of the rest; and this he is induced to do by the same prudence which in every other case advises him out of two evils to choose the least."

Essentially, if it's evil to have government and evil to not have government, human nature being what it is, then you pick your poison, and try to pick the less potent poison.

Socialists, communists, fascists, and collectivists make the other mistake. They forget or ignore the evil. They think humans can be perfected, that the government should grow and control everything. That government is necessary and good. Their delusions lead them to enforce their visions of utopia with mass violence that leads to mass death directly and indirectly.

The first group of people thinks that government is an unnecessary evil, the second group believes that it's a necessary good. Both are wrong. Some even believe it's an unnecessary good, essentially seeking to destroy modern civilization and return people to primitive tribalism. They are also wrong.

The American Founding Fathers were an impressive group of people. They had their flaws of course, but also greater ability and insight than most people then or now. In 'Federalist 51' James Madison, one of the greatest political minds that's ever existed in human history, said: "But what is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controuls 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 controul the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to controul itself."

You can see in Madison this same idea. The government is necessary because of human corruption, but because human nature is corrupted then the humans in government will be corrupted, so you must have systems to try to limit their corruption, and therefore you need limited government with a separation of powers and checks and balances. This is the logical conclusion of a correct view of human nature and government. There can be many variations of this, but any major deviation from this view of human nature and government is delusional and will lead to worse results.

That government is a necessary evil is an uncomfortable truth that most people struggle to accept.

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