What is the purpose of government in society?

Question

Is it to benifit the society or to control the mob? Is the business of government social or capital? I ask this in philosophy because it requires a philosophical answer.

What I really am asking, is government there to provide services to it citizens or is it there to force confomity and obedience to authority as a benifit to trade.

Answer 1

i dont know , government is a business... i think they have little by little made there way into everything we do, getting our money. it makes me so mad i cant sit back an watch it, ive reseached a little an think im going to register for libertarian lol. but really we only need government for a few things. not what they have become...

Answer 2

When you ask whether government's role in society is to benefit it, or to control it, the answer (on my part) could be two-sided:
Say that government is needed in a state when the circumstances are such that individual consciousness is not developed to a certain level (and it never is, in the modern society). The basic role of the government is, then, to 'lead' that undeveloped consciousness to a gole from which the nation would benefit. But, wouldn't you agree that this asks for a good control of the citizens (the mob)? Basically, a government can only have it's purpose if it benefits the society trough controlling it's members, we could say. For, if there is no benefit, what point does the control have? Certainly, even that government could not have any benefit from a situation where the society is unpleased. And, if there is no control, we have two options:
Either the society prospers without it, which mean that there is no need of a 'higher body' such as a government, either there is no benefit, hence the government is reasonless to exist, not being able to impact the society one way or another.

This has taken me some time to write, so I will reserve myself from answering the second part.

Answer 3

The government was originally for the people, by the people. Now it has become just another corporation, so to speak. I mean take the election coming up for example: Now both sides will pick their "Man"(Or woman) tell you what you want to hear. Taxes, medicare, blah blah blah. Now should they succeed Office, the "Plan" doesn't always go forward. There's others who have "Say." Meaning if it's profitable and marketable, it's a good thing. But if it's something rather, marketable and helpful, there comes a stumbling block, or slow movement. ("Oh, I don't know. It may take some time...") It's hard to understand that concept, but if you really think about it, you might get my drift. I will say this for record; Not ALL of them are BAD, but the good guys are sure as hell getting overshadowed in certain areas.

Answer 4

Depends on what you mean by government. Do you mean our perception of what is modern government or the general idea of government dating back to our hunter-gatherer days?

I'd say the general purpose of government was always that of a dispute-settling third party. Justice could be seen as the beginning principle of government. Somebody had to make sure the cattle herder was getting the appropriate amount of rice-barrels in exchange for his prized bull.

But as the tribes' population began to grow, and the government was stretching to its limits, the peoples' demand for more government also began to increase. There were more needs that the government could satisfy such as welfare or rights. Thus the people began to exploit this new need-satisfying government and spawned the innumerable types of government we have today.

But that's just a general secular concept of government, of course; religion's presence in the history of government is obvious but too laborious and probably too irrelevant to type out.

As to whether or not government 'benefits' society is a great matter of debate, what with its many con's i.e., genocide, apartheid, fascism, the imposition of the herd-mentality upon individuals, etc. I for one believe more government is something to be ashamed of; while less government is definitely saying something about its society and the individuals that make up its society.

But then again, I'm just an existentialist, atheist, individualist, so what do I know?

Answer 5

government is tricky, because there's different kinds. Some are designed to maintain the equity of its citizens like democracy. Some are made to ensure the prominence of its nation such as an oligarchy or a military dictatorship. Basically government is a theory through which the founder(s) of said nation convey their values to the territory they're residing over. Washington believed in freedom for all, free enterprise and the free flow of ideas...hence the democratic united states, atleast in theory. Marx and Lennin believing that in order for a society to do well the government must have absolute control of enterprise, hence Communist Russia. Government is the theory of an outline through which a nation can live up to the ideals of its founder(s).

Answer 6

The only real reason why human society needs government is to regulate relations between and among human beings in a fair way. All the other functions that governments do can be done by individuals or group--if the government creates the safe and 'fair' environment.

Answer 7

You do well to ask this question expecting a philosophical answer. This is, of course, an age old question that may be properly answered only with an understanding of philosophy.

History teaches us that the purpose of government in society is as undefinable as it is fixed. Time, place, need, desire, technology, greed, et. al., create the purpose of government in society. A government may be established to one end and, perverting that end, dominate the society that established it.

However; the business of government is always capital, even when it's aim is social. It is impossible to have a social government that is not successful capitalistically. Money must be raised to spend in social service.

Of course, if the aim of the government is not social it must still be capitalist or there would be no point in governing. Money must be raised to maintain control.

The purpose of government in society is too large a question. It may be time to ask, "What is my purpose in my society and its government?"

Answer 8

The purpose of gov't is to help us when we can't help ourselves.. However; gov't has gone far beyond that by listening to all of the special interest groups out there who worry about themselves, and not the people.
Having become a gov't of the lawyers, for the lawyers, and by the lawyers, the richest people are now in gov't, so the poorer people have little or no chance to have a real voice in gov't.
Tattoo has the right idea, join the Libertarians and work for real change, otherwise, quit complaining when the republicrats keep getting elected.
www.lp.org is where you need to go.

Answer 9

Without law and order, man has no freedom. I can't remember who said that, but it's very true. Societies need government so that it's citizen don't go around opportunistically looting and killing each other, and to protect us from other societies trying to take what we have. If people could truly live in peace without the fear of punishment, I don't think governments would be necessary.

Answer 10

We try to organize, and control our surroundings... I say it is both. With a figure head making decisions based on what the majority says they want, it creates a standard. This standard is then used to control society. This control benefits us as a group because we then know what the majority deems acceptable, or unacceptable.
I can't stress how important it is to go out and put your say in... Our figure head is elected by the majority, and makes decisions based on the feedback they get. If you don't like what the government is doing say something... If they don't listen to the majority, then they are voted out.
CyberNara

Answer 11

It is as infinite as it's parts and functions in as many ways....most of all it is a business. I really am beginning to think it is just a trippy way for 'Those' few higher ups to spend their time on this planet...with not too much conscious intention behind it.....just another job with further reaching ripples. At the end of the day the human components go home to bed. The powers and principalities....well they never change....behind the scenes...just buying time

Each member of society or free spirit in a society is affected/influenced differently by it. Everything is spiritual............