Guest Column: What is government?

Roger Jolley
Chamber of Justice
St. Augustine, FL

Does government have “rights”? Has government become a political party, the Party of Government?

Current Events offer us clear insights if we can see past the clutter of conflicting characterizations “about” current events and locate among that emotional-clutter the nuggets of structural information that will inform participants in the discussion on Government.

We have expectations, each one of us do, about what the government is and what it should be doing and we tend to believe everybody else already understands what we understand, then we rant about what we think is happening and this is where our inter-personal and inter-societal dialogue begins to spiral into “clusterfuck” — an organizational dynamic’s term that needs no further explanation.

People don’t have a clearly defined idea of what government is and we don’t trust what somebody else thinks government should be (it means something different to everybody who has an opinion) so how can we understand what is happening in the relationship between government and people all around the globe right now?

Is America the government and its military and police force or is it the people they govern?

Is the government those we elect or do they control the government?

Is Syria the Government of President Assad with his military and police power or is the nation the people who live and work there each ruled by the authority of the government?

What purpose does this institution we call “Government” have and what is happening to it in modern times (August 7, 2011)?

As the Syrian Government “cracks-down” on non-violent dissent creating violent self-defense by the people of Syria, some questions become pressing for each and every human on the planet. The global Human family is in crisis and this is but one symptom.

Elections are announced at the same time the Syrian National Military is occupying several cities and killing thousands of their own citizens with tanks and heavy armor to keep the current political leaders in place. Is this pretense of a legislative and executive government elected by the people supposed to stand in the face of obvious contrary evidence?

Is the purpose of Government so vital to the people and the Nation that violent repression and killing of those who disagree with government authorities is reasonable behavior for a Sovereign Nation?

Can you think of a legitimate reason to use government force to suppress the free exchange of ideas between people, especially with people who disagree with governmental results and its impact on the people they rule?

Can any common-criminal claim government sovereignty and simply kill those who disagree with them to force an entire nation to submit to the leadership’s (or Political faction’s) domination?

But the most important question now is how long can International Relationships and a Globalized Economy continue to conduct business as usual with thinly-veiled criminal gangs running entire Nations, criminally misusing internationally sanctioned National Government Authority?

In the next few posts we will explore this “problem-cloud” and try to sort out what government really is as a function and how it operates under “normal” situations, and then we can look at and understand possible solutions to some of these pressing problems.

Photo credits: © 2011 Historic City News contributed photograph by Roger G. Jolley