Origins Of Government

Personal Exploration on the Origins of Government I remember the day when I first qualified my belief that government was inherently bad. The defining moment that led me to see the true nature of government was the day a police officer pointed a gun at me when I was twelve. Yes, you read that correctly, a police officer pointed a gun at a twelve year old. I’ve tried hard to forget that day, I’ve tried so very hard. I don’t like to tell the story because people either believe me because they see the police for what they really are or they just give me strange looks that unnerve me. But I never tell this story as anything other than what it was, the truth the way it happened. It all started with one particularly pleasant day, it was a
day we had long since planned previously, to get together with my friends from my neighborhood and my cousins to romp around in the desert playing what I can only describe as “cowboys and indians”. The reason my cousins and friends would be coming over was because we were having a birthday party that day.We all got together to go play in the desert for expressed purpose of avoiding confused or disturbed looks from the neighbors. After all, when you’re playing with cheap, plastic BB guns ,with clearly marked orange tips, it only takes one blind idiot to spoil your whole day by calling the police. Keep in the mind that where I lived at the time was not a bad place by any means, and on top of that we lived in a relatively nicer, newer, safer part of town. Unfortunately, our foresight didn’t prevent what happened when we went out into the desert. The desert wasn’t far from our house because where we lived was once desert. Where we went to play was actually houses that had been built when the housing market crashed, it left them hollowed out husks of wood with roofs over them surrounded by an empty wasteland. After we had picked an ideal place for us at the end of the street, we consolidated our group as we took count of who would be on which team. There was me, my older brother Tim, my cousins Alex, Mark, and Louis, and my friends Charlie and Vincent. We divided the teams based on who would occupy each floor of the husk, Me, Vincent, and Mark would occupy the ground floor while Tim, Charlie, Alex, and Louis would occupy the second floor. At first, we tried to establish some rules by which we would play our game, but those only lasted a short time before our game degenerated to each team making forays to the other’s respective floor and then having both teams pelt each other with plastic pellets from behind cover. After an hour which my brother reported to us that someone had seen them through a window. This, of course, was our signal to leave. Afterall, we weren’t stupid. We knew some people wouldn’t appreciate us playing in unfinished houses, or God forbid, think we actually had guns! So we made the decision to relocate across the inclining, almost stairlike hills, which ended abruptly at the wall. The wall was a curious structure, nothing more than an oddity sandwiched between vibrant ecosystem and a barren wasteland. On the way to this wall we were inundated with the sounds of a ridiculous amount of sirens. The very sound of which sent chills down my spine and caused my brain to fire on all it’s pistons as the horrible thought that they might be for us creeped into my mind. Even at this young age, just thinking of the pig-men disturbed me so. I wasn’t old enough, nor wise enough in the ways of the world to realize what a bane dark skin was when dealing with the aforementioned blue men, but I knew well enough to know they were not my friends and their company was best avoided completely in all circumstances. Immediately upon noticing the strong police presence, and knowing that people had died for far less than playing with toys at the hands of the police, I urged my friends and family that we should turn back and head to the safety and security of our home. My companions dismissed my concerns as the musings of a coward and a paranoid. They refuted my claims on the basis that we were children and had nothing to worry regarding the sirens since we had done nothing wrong. I still held my concerns but pushed them to the back of my mind because today was supposed to be a good day and I wasn’t about to let negative thoughts taint my happiness. How I lament not pursuing my first instinct more intensely. We reached the wall and my cousin Alex’s mother called him on his cellphone to inquire how he was. So rather than continue our game we meandered around the wall waiting for him to finish his call. As we waited I heard my friends cry out. There was a police car rapidly approaching! Their first suggestion was to run and me, not wanting to run the risk that the officer might have kind intentions, I happily obliged them. We ran only 4 feet before a relatively fat officer poked his head over the hill leading up to the wall with his gun upholstered and ready to fire. It seems my first instinct was correct, yet again, with my only mistake being to not run faster. Our first impulse after seeing him was to stop and his upon seeing us was to order(more like scream at) us to put down our toy guns and get on the floor. Reread that sentence a few times while keeping in mind that one; we were twelve, and two; that your taxes help pay for, not only him making a fool of himself, but the massive police response we had seen earlier that was apparently for us. Now sure, you can justify some of it by saying its not police’s fault some people need eyeglasses and two brain cells to rub together, but its hard to feel like your taxes are well-spent on a somewhat obese man who feels intimidated enough by a small group of twelve year olds to draw his firearm. Although I’m not an unreasonable man, I realize that with my smaller-than-average height, lanky build, and darker-than-white skin tone, I must’ve been very intimidating at the time and I should be thankful he didn’t shoot me in the face. As I stood and he ordered me to the ground I wasn’t afraid. Why should I have been? This was not a new trend in my life; people had been lording themselves as better than me because they had a higher social, bureaucratic, familial, or age position since I was young and they used this authority to justify treating me like I wasn’t even human. I wasn’t afraid because I had resigned myself to my fate; I had done it a long time ago. In fact, I remember the day I resigned myself to a life a suffering; It was a long time ago when I was five years old, I was drinking water, and the cup was too big for me to manage and I spilled it all over the table. I really hadn’t meant to do it and I wouldn’t have done it if I could’ve helped it, but none of those facts placated my mother. She looked straight at me with fury in her eyes and shouted “Pinche Cabron!” and I was running before she even finished saying it. I had a small head start since she had to pick up a belt to hit me with it, so I ran through the house crying at her how I was sorry, sorry for spilling the water, and it was the most sorry I’ve ever been for anything in my life. Eventually, as I ran the strangest thing happened, I hit a dead end, and as I stood there terrified of the beating I was about to receive, I just accepted my fate. And after that it didn’t hurt as much as it did before when she thrashed me and locked me in the bathroom for an hour and after that all the bad things that happened to me didn’t hurt as much. It didn’t hurt as much all the other times after my mother hit me, or the times my father drank too much and screamed obscenities at me, or the long years I was devoid of friends because my older brother spread rumors about me so he would be well-received with his friends. Even the time when my brother beat me so badly he dislocated my jaw all because I wouldn’t let him have my spot on the couch while we were watching TV and then my father, with his infinite contempt for the weak, came and kicked me for good measure. That’s why when that cop was patting down the genitals of my friends and family checking twelve year olds for weapons it didn’t hurt that much. Why should it? The sum of my life up to that point had been nothing but pain and misery. Just because this was particularly bad didn’t mean I shouldn’t have expected it. As I lay there on the ground,watching that bureaucrat check the others for weapons, I thought about the nature of my life. I had long since grown accustomed to the nasty, brutish life I had been dealt but was it destined to only get worse? Would I be forced to suffer progressively greater indignities until someone felt it was their place to relieve me of this life that was mine to live? As I thought about these things I came to a profound realization; the problem was never any one person. The problem wasn’t the incompetent police officer, it wasn’t the police department, it wasn’t my parents, it wasn’t my brother, it wasn’t my classmates who ridiculed and derided me, nor the teachers who railroaded me because it was convenient; it was people, people who felt their position in society, age, and institution afforded them privileges over others. Because of these people I was forced to suffer through a seemingly endless tide of ridicule, abuse, and beatings. And what is government but privilege incarnate? It was because of government that a pig had the privilege of touching my genitals, it was because of government that teachers and principals could administer to their jobs lazily, incompetently, and unfairly and still had the privilege of telling me what to do with my time. It was because of government that my “peers” had the privilege of treating me as less than human and I could neither assert myself nor defend against their vicious attacks because they had not only each others support, but the support of the state. Government serves only as a vile structure maintaining the privileges of the wealthy, the esteemed, and their functionaries with any benefits for the masses operating only as a clever illusion designed to maintain our complacency. It was a revelation that I realized while that galoot of an officer was wasting my time, your tax money, and any goodwill people still had for them. After he was done making a fool of himself, he didn’t even have the humility to apologize for pointing his gun at us, instead what his spiel essentially amounted to was “Hey, next time don’t run because I’m too fat to chase you and if I had shot one of you by mistake that would’ve been really bad...for me”. Considering how he had illegally pulled out his handgun when we had done nothing wrong, I was overjoyed that he was gracious enough to let us go with just a warning. After the cop had left, I asked my friend why he told us to run if the cop was literally right there and he could only reply that it seemed like a good idea at the time. On our way back home someone said, “It looks like we should’ve listened to Lionel”. Eh, at least I got the pleasure of hearing them admit I was right, and it got me thinking on the origins and nature of government.
I started asking questions like how did governments form?
Most might say that they formed out of the necessity for administration, because when large groups of people form the need for structure naturally gives rise to organization. But that is not true, while we were a nascent race(approximately 20,000 years ago) we simply did not join together in large unsustainable groups.The whole premise is unreasonable because in the earliest of human societies disease would run more rampant the larger the group was, and on top of that it would be extremely difficult to continuously locate enough food to sustain a group large enough to require a bureaucracy, they could manage for a short time but for any extended period they would inevitably perish. Of course that's without considering the fact that in this natural era men held each other accountable for their actions. So it’s no surprise that roughly 25% of all people(out of a population of roughly 100,000-150,000) were murdered. Others would expect that people would killing each other over trivial things or simply for personal benefit would lead people to form a government, a non-existent concept at the time mind you, purely out of the desire for security. But consider this; if people’s natural inclination was to kill each other when they came into contact, was it the still warm corpses of the murdered who felt we needed an organization to prevent this? Or did the victors of these little skirmishes feel the need to develop an
institution to hold them accountable for the “injustice” they had committed, in spite of the fact they felt justified in their reasoning enough to do it? As such to expect that people would come together of their own volition, in the spirit of brotherly love, and against all reason to form a government is ludicrous. Rather than the naive notion that people simply came together without prompting and out of necessity, reality holds a far darker truth. First let me establish the premise, in the dawn of humanity most people sustained themselves by gathering edible plants which grew in various locations and took an abundance of different forms. They would hunt regularly but their success varied based on personal technique and the availability of local game so for most cultures plants were a more ready source of nutrition. Unsurprisingly, people eventually figured out that they could take the seeds of the plants they ate and nurture them to fruition and not have to travel from place to place in search of food. However, considering how our ancestors lacked our acumen, they failed to understand the sheer effort required to succeed at the task they had committed themselves to. Agriculture was and is brutish work, it always has been and always will be, our modern implements simply give us the illusion of ease because fuel has replaced blood and sweat. And our ancestors certainly did bleed and sweat, without domesticated animals or practical tools they accomplished their task simply through force of will. And for what: meager harvests, rampant disease, and poor nutrition? It certainly was miserable existence for those who made the mistake of trying to grow their own food. But not completely lacking intellect, the farmers had a brilliant revelation, why do the work themselves? In hindsight it is such clear choice it’s hard to believe they didn’t immediately make this realization. Conveniently, only a short time after agriculture was developed, slavery also became commonplace on farms. Historians generally believe slavery developed out of putting P.O.W’s from early tribal wars to work, as opposed to simply having them laze about, because our ancestors liked to mix things up and occasionally not kill people after collectively exterminating 25% of the population. Although, their explanation makes a lot more sense when you take “early tribal war” to euphemistically mean “slave raid” and “P.O.W’s” to mean “captured slaves”. Also conveniently, agriculture became significantly more profitable once the farmers, or rather the Masters, would get other people to do most of the work while keeping only enough food to sustain themselves. All the while the Masters kept more than enough food to be quite comfortable. Rather than assume they took subjugation quietly, reason leads us to believe that our ancestors were quite indomitable. After all, who wouldn’t seek restitution after being separated from your home, your friends, and your family? Who wouldn’t seek vindication after losing everything you ever held dear? Who wouldn’t seek to baptize the world in the blood of those who humiliated you with forced bondage? The answers are so self-evident they need not be explored by me. As such, in the beginning, the Masters could only own a few slaves at a time since the responsibility of keeping them subjugated fell on them alone. If they owned too many, the slaves would become rowdy and liberate themselves because in order for the farm to be profitable there must be only a few Masters relative to the slaves. If they owned too little slaves, the farm would be unprofitable and that would defeat the purpose of practicing agriculture or slavery. As such, in the interests of practicality and maintaining their lifestyle, the Masters shared their wealth. Not with the slaves of course, but rather with family, friends, and any mercenary willing to trade a life of constant searching for sustenance for a life of steady access to supplies and a much more sizeable pool of marriage partners(agricultural communities were larger than hunter/gatherer ones). These people became slave drivers and catchers, respectively. Regardless of their responsibilities, be that they went out into the wilderness to hunt their fellow man or if they would stay on the field to compel their chattel to work harder for food they would never enjoy, these overseers and slavers would be content to carry out their vile work as long as they received more food than they could forage for themselves. They need not even eat as well as the Masters who employed them so long as they were at least marginally better off than slaves socially and were better fed. This primitive hierarchy of Masters, slavers, and slaves illustrated the true origins of government. The Masters serve as the executive head of government; deciding what the slavers will devote the majority of their time to(enslaving new peoples or administering to those already enslaved) , how to punish fugacious or insolent slaves (primitive laws), and what the slaves can and will do with their free time. From this point onward this type of community only resembles what we think of government more. However I lack the knowledge to address the period after this properly and do it the justice it deserves. In fact, I’m curious as to what things I am missing regarding the origins of government.
There are so many things I would like to know about the origins of government.
Like how exactly did it evolve from primitive slaving societies? I’m not necessarily asking where in history did it change from a slaving society to a government,like a proverbial line in the sand, but rather how did the structures we have today gradually form out of necessity? I know enough about the subject to know that the bureaucratic structures we have today didn’t come to be out of malevolence but rather out of a practical need to maintain the system. Moreover, how did people become so dependant on this system that they stopped seeing it as nothing more than shackles? After all people feel government is such an important part of their lives they honestly can’t imagine a world without it. The mere suggestion of it has people blubbering about how would they get utilities, paved roads, or security if there was no government? Do people honestly fail to realize they could provide these things for themselves? Do they fail to see thats what they essentially do when they subjugate themselves to an allegedly infallible, superior, and more competent authority? Do they fail to see that these bureaucratic structures are essentially profiteering from their childish belief that they cannot manage their own lives? Do people not see that regardless of whether or not government provides services that the responsibility of taking care of themselves ultimately falls on them alone? It seems people won’t
consider the possibility that they’re being taken advantage of even enough to answer these questions for themselves so I must answer these questions for them. Furthermore, how come all other types of governments not based on the slave/master dynamic died out? I know there were governments based around other principles like religion, safety, and community ties but they no longer exist in todays world. I know that the reason governments based around religion died out because the people in the society lost respect for the religion and therefore the government lost its authority but is it inevitable that people would lose respect for a religion that upholds the government? And how come governments based around safety, which in early human history was a direct response to the slavery/master dynamic, didn’t last into the modern age or make a severe impact on the slavery/master dynamic? Also, how come governments that are based around community still exist today but lack any strong presence in the world as a whole? One example of this would be the mountain kingdom of Bhutan, but that is literally the only example I have of this style of government. I know better than to suggest anarchy as an alternative to government because government exists as more than an idea or a physical structure, its a bleeding cancer in the hearts of men, but is there any way to purge government of its negative attributes and create society purely for the benefit of those who are a part of it? You may feel thats how our government functions now but is that true? Has it not always favored one group over another be it on the basis of religion,race, wealth, or education? What I want is a natural society where people don’t need direct oversight from laws or functionaries of the state because everyone holds each other accountable to what is right. Is that wishful thinking? Its hard to say, but I know for certain that I will find the answer. How will I find these answers? That is probably the easiest question I have to answer. I’ll find my answers by doing research. My favorite source to use will indubitably be books;purely by the virtue that I take pleasure in reading them and I am already familiar with many different kinds of books that will be of use to me. The only problem I foresee with this research method is that I won’t be able to remember a particular book I wanted to use as a source. Books are also more reliable in general than internet sources, where anonymity can mask a boorish simpleton’s baseless ravings, while still being modestly convenient to use regularly. Another source I plan to make to make use of is a personal interview. I know that in current times this method of research is all but extinct, but the possible value of getting first hand knowledge from a source well-verse in their field is too tempting to pass up. Another benefit of using this method is that your research cannot be refuted on the basis of unreliability if your source is held in high esteem by those competent to pass judgement in your subject. I will also inevitably have to use the internet as a source unfortunately. Although I have my reservations regarding this research methods viability considering how anyone with a high school diploma and a modest ability to write code feels they are omnicompetent enough to be taken seriously by anyone who would read their work, but with diligence any researcher can find legitimate sources written by those who are versed in their field so the internet can prove invaluable. I’ll also explore the possibility of using scientific journals as a source in my paper. I’m really not familiar with how this source works since I have almost no experience using it but I’m sure that if someone was accomplished enough to be published in a reputable scientific magazine then they would undoubtedly serve as a credible source. Also, I suspect that this source, with all the academic rigor required of a paper in order to have it published, would be considerably less biased than more conventional sources. As I progress I have no doubt I’ll find out which sources work best and new types of sources that can contribute my topic.