Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site teldata.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!teltone!teldata!tac From: tac@teldata.UUCP (Tom Condon) Newsgroups: net.politics Subject: Re: The actual functions of the U.S. government Message-ID: <264@teldata.UUCP> Date: Tue, 13-Mar-84 18:45:55 EST Article-I.D.: teldata.264 Posted: Tue Mar 13 18:45:55 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 14-Mar-84 19:48:40 EST References: <253@wu1.UUCP> Organization: Teltone Corp., Kirkland, WA Lines: 33 I was not reading the news, and so missed the survey some months back. I do have a definition of government which may be of interest. A government is an organization invested by private individuals with such rights as they possess and are willing to delegate for their mutual protection and benefit. Notice that the people who create the government cannot give to it any authority or powers which they do not have! This is a basic tenet of pure democracy--that people can not give away what is not theirs. Therefor they cannot give to any government that they create any powers which are not their's. The purpose of a government is to do those things which it was created and empowered to do. I believe that it was Thomas Jefferson who said, "They govern best who govern least!" One of our early presidents (I think it was Washington but I am not sure) vetoed EVERY law which congress passed. When asked why he told the legislators that they had not been empowered to perform the tasks that they were taking onto themselves by writing that law. One of the legislators then stood up and said,"Mr. President, do you mean to tell me that the constitution anticipated everything which needs to be done?" The president in question responded in the affirmative and continued with, "...and all of the things you would like to do too." It seems that the major problems which were facing the people at the time were unemployment, spiraling inflation, possible war with an aggressive foreign power (England) and a liberal distrust of governments. The United States Constitution was written to solve these problems. It did a very good job of it too. It is a shame that we are not willing to put our faith in such a tried and true document again.