I want to start with the assumption that governments are or ever were legitimate to govern or hold power. In order for government to be ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’ we have to start with the premise that people have rights and powers that can be delegated. And that is where the problem begins.
Can I give anyone or any entity a right or power that I, myself, do not have? If I do not have the right to take money from someone else, how can I give that right to anyone else – even if they call themselves ‘king,’ or ‘government,’ or ‘Revenue Agency’? Do I have the right to initiate violence against someone else just because I do not like the way they decorate their yard, or the kinds of plants or herbs they want to use in the privacy of their own home? If I do not have that right; how can I give that right to anyone else?
Can I write words on a piece of paper, write it in fancy lettering, add ribbons & press melted wax onto it, and go through some form of ritual or ceremony and magically turn those words into a law that is binding upon anyone but myself? Then how can I give the right to do that to anyone else?
If I do not have the right to take someone’s life. How can I delegate that right to someone else? If I do not have the right to steal money from someone else to fund some project I want to do; how can I delegate or give that right to someone else?
Government has never been legitimate. Rulership in any form is a violation of everything that is good.
So far as I can see, governments have never had any legitimacy to rule/govern and the only way they hold power is by the use of violence or the threat of violence or implied violence. And the way they fund their existence and their violence is by stealing money from the people (called taxes).
We have been hoodwinked into believing a superstition. And that superstition is that government in any form, is legitimate, and that it has authority. Government is the one thing that has caused more suffering, violence, death, misery, theft, destruction of creativity and beauty and pain, and has violated more human rights down through history than anything else. The historical records bear this out.
Mankind is a naive creation. And we have been duped into naively believing that government can make our lives better. When in truth, government does the worst possible job at anything it has ever done.
We have been hypnotized into believing that government is good, or at best, a necessary evil. We are terrified at the thought of not having a government so most people willingly support the government, even though all the evidence around them shows that the government does the worst job possible at whatever task it takes on.
So, in conclusion, do I 'feel modern governments have lost their legitimacy to govern and are holding onto power through violence or are the people still supporting the state willingly or even naively?'
I feel modern governments, just like all governments before, were never legitimate from the start, and the only way they have ever held power is through violence and/or the threat of violence. And I believe the people support government willingly because we are naïve and out of fear of the unknown, support the government in hopes that it will eventually do the 'right' thing. Respectfully.
Welcome @angelfire808 , what an awesome entry to the debate, i totally agree:)
She is one of my best friends! Can you tell! hahaha
Thank you. Very much!
Amazing thoughts with full of logic :)
Totally Agreed
Stay Blessed :)
Thank you. And blessing on you as well.
Boom! So happy to see you participate! Beautiful response. I love it!!! I just hope that people come and vote before the deadline!
Thank you, @wwf. I give a lot of credit to you for starting me on this journey. As I have said many times: We in these times are standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before: they have suffered torture, had their families destroyed, been publicly mocked, abandoned by their friends and families and died so we can learn this in the comfort of our homes. I am grateful for and humbled by that.
Well said! I too stand on their shoulders as well. It has been nearly 10 years when we first met and you sat in the court room for that one DL ticket the Crown wanted to pin on me. We were all stunned when they dismissed the charges and made a VERY clear point that it was NOT a precedent setting case. I will never forget that or the fact that you were there as well.