Whispering Death said:
Ramjet said:
Citizens will slowly but inevitably lose more and more of their rights to the government.
Why is it inevitable?
Because in a democracy, politicians get elected on what they can make the GOVERNMENT do for YOU. Understand that process. They don't get elected by saying "I AM GOING TO MAKE SURE THE GOVERNMENT DOES LESS FOR YOU!"
I agree to an extent, but I think you are missing the point of
why the government makes these claims. They make these claims because, essentially, the government is supposed to work
for the people. In a democracy, the government should represent the people. Hence why the people are encouraged to vote come election time.
Now,
that's the process.
They get up they and say I'm going to do X for seniors, I'm going to do Y for working moms, I'm going to do Z for the poor etc.
And once a program is started it rarely contracts or is stopped because of the iron triangle of support; politicians, beurocrats, and the group recieving the bennefits.
So, why is that necessarily a bad thing? Some programs IMO should be implemented because they are essential. Of course, not all programs are beneficial, but I think it is too sweeping to assume, or imply that
all
governmental programs are detrimental.
So there is a lot of incentive for governemnt power to gradually increase whereas there is very little incentive for it to contract. Look at the history of modern federalist democracies and you will see this trend.
Therfore, government expansion in federalist democracies is inevitable.
However, does individual freedom exist in greater qualities in other forms of government? It sounds like you disagree with government intervention in people's lives. Should the government take a lasseiz-faire approach instead?
Also, is "government expansion" necessarily detrimental? With some situations, it seems that the greater the governmental intervention, the more freedom we receive. For instance, the privacy act.
Anyways, back to the militia question. I believe that encouraging the militias = encouraging the disintegration of the state. Now, I find that disturbing because it seems to harken back to an anarchical era where everyone feels obliged to defend themselves.