From the earliest civilizations, we more or less have had government. So of course it’s a reasonable assumption to make that government is somehow necessary to human survival and therefore should be sustained. However are we jumping to conclusions? In any society, there are people to whom others will defer. In small societies these are usually the village elders and the deference is simply do to the experience gained from a long life. Over time, if enough people begin deferring to a small group of people, a full scale government will form. This does not mean that the government necessarily is beneficial.
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Alternate Perspective
So let’s take a look at government from a different perspective. Isn’t it possible that government is a disease: a symptom of the dynamics between individuals? As Robert Lefevre said “government is a disease masquerading as its own cure.”
The Misconception
We think we need government because we have more or less always had government. In reality, just like cancer will hit if one lives long enough, as a consequence of cell mutations, it’s possible that government forms as humans interact with each other, and not for the better.
Consequences of The Misconception
Now, think about the consequences of making “existence therefore beneficial” assumption with the cancer analogy. We would end up trying to promote cancer thinking that somehow it’s necessary for our health. We would then sit back and wonder why people keep dieing. Perhaps we would even consider that we aren’t growing the cancer fast enough. After all, that’s the reaction when government fails.
Obviously cancer is not in any way necessary or beneficial, but automatically making that kind of assumption about government is the exact kind of logical fallacy that would be made about making assumptions on the positive nature of cancer. Instead of looking at government as a necessity, it is just as reasonable to assume that government is humanity’s more relictual instincts, regarding acquiring resources through force, being displayed.
How it Started
The next question is, how did this disease come to be? The answer may be found hidden within an article on human evolution, which tries to relate the evolution of human throwing ability with activities that seem uniquely human.
Sources
The quote “government is a disease masquerading as its own cure” is from iz quotes.