General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: It's been a real hoot reading the thread titles in GD. [View all]LuvNewcastle
(16,846 posts)It's in our nature. There are always some people who resist organization, but by and large, most people accept it and prefer it. Whether we have a tribal society, a dictatorship, an oligarchy, or a republic, the principle is the same -- that is, to keep order so that we have stability. That's important because we like to make plans. We make plans so that we can achieve progress, whatever it is that we agree to accomplish. People have a yearning to accomplish things, otherwise they feel that life is pointless and they get depressed and then life isn't pleasant at all.
So these organizations that we make lead to divisions of labor. Ultimately, someone or group of people become responsible for the security of the organization from outside threats. This is what government does in its most basic form; it protects its people from others who might do them harm and/or take their possessions.
Governments will always be with us as long as the strong take advantage of the weak and as long as people take things that don't belong to them. If we ever come to the point where we're all able to freely share what we have with everyone else, the need for government might disappear. Humanity is a long way from that point, however, and we aren't alone in the animal kingdom. Maybe one day we'll be at that point, but we've been stuck here for all of recorded history. We know more about our world and our universe than we did when the first records were taken, but we are essentially the same as we've ever been.