We all know — or all should know — that the biggest instigator for rebellion against King George III in 1776 was a writer who penned a pamphlet titled “Common Sense.” The author of this document gave us Americans a fundamental grasp of what government is, where it comes from and its general reason for existing. Why did humans invent government in the first place?
Before we get started, allow me to call your attention to what Paine said about racism (although it probably wasn’t known by this label in 1776). In the section “Of Monarchy And Hereditary Succession,” Paine remained skeptical of claims that race could be used as a metric of one’s virtue or character and inquired about race this way:
Further in this section of “Common Sense” Paine recounted how the Israelites (the Jews) sought a monarch in the scriptures. He recounted how they clamored for Gideon to be their king, but Gideon staunchly declined. He also recounted how they went to their prophet Samuel and said, “make us a king to judge us, like all other nations.”
See, kings of old not only acted as the chief executive, but also as the judiciary. The selection of a king also meant the selection of a judge. The king acted as a mediator between two citizens having a dispute. Today, we acknowledge the desire to separate these powers, thus creating the three branches of government: legislature, executive and judiciary.
Assuming you’ve read “Common Sense,” you will notice that in the previous section, “Of The Origin And Design Of Government In General. With Concise Remarks On The English Constitution,” Paine addressed the origin and design of government. He lamented that, “some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them.” Thus, he immediately set out to illustrate the distinctions between “society” and “government.”
In essence, Paine said that society was based on our wants. We “associate” or “socialize” with those who are like us or who have similar interests. If we both enjoy flying kites, we both join the local kite enthusiasts’ club, right? This is how we make new friends and acquaintances. It’s based on our interests and our desire to share. We typically enjoy sharing experiences, resources and ideas with family and friends.
However, he says that government was born due to our wickedness. What does that mean? When people come together to form a community, they usually do so to consolidate and share resources. How then would you resolve a dispute if one were to arise between members of your community?
Like in a game, rules must be established and made public, so no one is accused of cheating. As long as the rules are published beforehand, everyone playing the game can agree to the rules. Everyone can be assured that an objective effort will be made to abide by the published rules. This expectation for objectivity also serves to earn trust throughout the society.
If everyone writes their own rules, then we say the society is governed by anarchy — “every man for himself.” This usually results in chaos. If you’re not familiar with the story of David and Bathsheba, I’ll share it here.
In the scriptures, King David was the king of Israel and he saw a beautiful woman and coveted/lusted for her. Although he discovered that she was married, he persisted and slept with Bathsheba. Her husband was a soldier in the king’s army. David feared that his adultery would be discovered, so he sent for Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband. She was pregnant, and David wanted them to sleep together to hide their deceit. Uriah refused to sleep with his wife while all his fellow soldiers were off fighting. Upon hearing this, King David was furious and when he sent Uriah back to join his ranks, he also sent a message to Uriah’s commanders. In the message, David told them to sabotage Uriah — put him on the front lines so that he may perish. He did and David then married Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba.
When it’s every man or woman for themselves, it is easy to see how chaos can rule the day. If you have no concern for anyone other than yourself, the betrayal and calamity to follow could only be described as anarchy.
These rules that govern how people behave in society are called norms. This, of course, is where we get the word “normal.” What is normal in a situation? If everyone writes their own rules, we’ve acknowledged that this is anarchy. It’s a Wild West type of scenario. Instead of everyone attempting to dictate to society their rules, we accept that society will instead dictate to the individual the rules of the society. This process of acquiescing to society’s norms is usually referred to assimilation. People assimilate into the society and recognize without the assimilation; we’d be attempting to dictate to society what is right or wrong. Another way of saying this is, we allow society to dictate to us — the individual — what is right or wrong.
This is also why scientists can say, “People don’t know the difference between right and wrong.” Since we’re not the arbiter, how could we? It is the various courts that determines how disputes are resolved in our society. These courts serve as the collective authority. They collectively resolve disputes utilizing a precedent system. The precedent system allows us to look at past court cases and see how they were resolved in the past. Since the rules — or laws — are public information, we know what to expect from our government, from our fellow citizens and can better anticipate the consequences of our actions or inactions.
In essence, Thomas Paine, is saying that the government is the “rule keeper.” We allow it to write the rules (legislature). We allow it to enforce the rules (executive). And we allow it to interpret the rules (law) when a dispute arises (judiciary). In other words, the underlying purpose for inventing government in the first place is NOT security. The underlying purpose for creating government is to serve as arbiter and mediator in disputes between members of the society. Think about it. Even a peace treaty between two countries, the governments are merely mediating on the citizens’ behalf.
This is the civics lesson we are about to receive. The two parties that have a dispute today are the President of the United States (POTUS), Donald J. Trump versus our Deep State, Joe Biden and the DNC. The way our government is designed to resolve disputes peacefully — in the court. One way to restore faith in our government is by allowing it to function the way it was intended to function. Keep America Great! WWG1WGA!