What is government FOR?
(a collaborative essay, I hope)
This is a comment I often write, exasperated, on other people’s writing about so much of the current tom-foolery.
But it’s not something I’ve asked myself in any serious way, so I thought I’d sit down and give it a try.
An easier question to start with, I think, is what it’s not for, so let’s do that first:
not for play-acting that the US is a giant corporation and we’re all its employees, or that we’re one big household that has to “balance its monthly budget”
not for punishing people who disagree with the official leaders
not for obeying the whims of corporations who want their assets protected and grown at all costs
So what is it for?
This, my friends, is a tricker question, and I think we might have to back up a little for it and ask another question: What are our goals as a society?
There are a lot of potential answers to that question, but I think most of us can probably agree on a few basics, and then go from there.
Most of us want:
for our basic needs of shelter, food, and water to be met
to be protected from overt harm
to have time to spend with our families and friends
the ability to rest and relax, and recuperate when needed
access to education
access to healthcare
for our natural resources to be protected, and not mis- or overused
to be free to talk about what we want to talk about without fear of punishment (which is different than fear of being called an asshole, which we are all capable of being and should not be protected from)
to know the truth about what’s happening in our communities, particularly when it comes to the people and institutions who are controlling various aspects of our lives
to participate in decision-making concerning our collective and individual fates
to help us build plenty of collective public spaces
I know that I usually write a huge essay, but this time, I’d like to hear more from my readers, as I know that plenty of you must have better answers than I do.
So tell me: what am I missing on the “what most of us want” list?
And if you’ve got some ideas, what would you propose in terms of how to get those things for ourselves as a country?
Next Sunday I hope to publish a follow-up essay to this one highlighting and talking about some of those ideas. Until then, I look forward to reading you all! <3
All very noble thoughts , no doubt, but unfortunately when the State gets involved in so many aspects of people’s lives then it usually ends in tears. I’m always suspicious when I hear the words “equality” or “social justice”. Ask the people in Cuba or Venezuela how that worked out for them. The only equality that the Government needs to guarantee is equality under the law plus the safeguarding of the right to personal safety (protected by Police or Armed Forces) and the right to prívate property.
I am so fed up with a government which,for better or worse, never had me so angy and afraid that I would consider another nationality (not Mexico; I already have permanent residency). I am looking into it now; just have to find the right documents. I have also been seriously considering turning myself in when I go back to CA for a time next month to visit my grandson. I believe Israel is commiting genocide, and if I can't say that without breaking the law, then I belong where Kalail Mahmoud is being imprisioned. We both are supposed to have "freedom of speech". What a joke! We can say what we want if it agrees with our present government, and that's it.
I just read that our government, which has put a biillionaire in charge of a program called DOGE designed to cut expenses. has spent $40,000,000 to jail 400 migrants at Guantanamo.
I donate what I can to charities, but a higher tax on billionaires would fill he gap quickly. Of course, this is a fantasy.'
Sorry for the bitching, Sarah. You are looking for answers or suggestions, not whining. Right now my state of mind is in dispair.