Apr 28, 2011

Original version of Right to Bear Arms

This is one of the original versions of what became the Second Amendment, regarding the Right to Bear Arms.

This version was passed by the first House of Representatives in 1789. You will notice that this version is different, and I think more clearly written, than the version that ultimately became the Second Amendment.  

“A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the People, being the best security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, but no one religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person.”

I like the phrase “composed of the body of the People”. That phrase would help quite a bit when debating the meaning of the Second Amendment.

I also like the phrase “no one religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person.” Although I strongly support the military, I have always disagreed with military drafts, which force citizens to take arms and fight when they do not wish to. I wonder why this phrase was taken out?

Personally, I like this original version of the Right to Bear Arms much more than the version we have had to work with.

Apr 27, 2011

Purposes of Government - Part 2

What is the purpose of government?

In a previous article we said that the primary purpose of government is to provide the structure for citizens to do what they desire and for those citizens to prosper. There is a secondary purpose of government, and that purpose is to hear and resolve competing interests.

Whenever a group of people get together there will always be competing interests and differing opinions. Key among competing interests are land use and water use. Other common conflicts include: business vs environment, business vs safety, freedom vs safety, and privacy vs security.

A government body must exist to hear all parties on each specific conflict. The government body should then reach a wise decision which satisfies everyone involved.

This government body must also set some basic rules regarding the issues so everyone can work together with minimal conflict.

This government body may be the federal legislature, a state legislature, a government agency, a city council, a regional board, or some other entity. All members of each government body should be elected by the people.

The authority of each body should be clearly defined, so that there is no confusion as to which government body has authority over the issue. However, this is a difficult task, with many factors to consider. (This issue will be explored later in subsequent articles).
           

A further subset of this government purpose (hearing and resolving competing interests) is the legal system. Competing interests are often on a personal level or company level rather than a community level. Also crimes such as theft and murder are as old as recorded history. Therefore the legal system must exist to resolve these conflicts.

The government can use a variety of methods in the legal system to resolve these disputes. The more informal methods include mediation and alternative dispute resolution. If these do not work then official lawsuits can be filed, where decisions are reached by judges and juries. In any case, a government must create a legal system which can hear and resolve conflicts on a more personal level.

Therefore the secondary purpose of government is to hear and resolve conflicts and differing opinions. This can be at any level: personal, community, state, or national.

There are two systems involved when hearing and resolving conflicts: the council system and the legal system. The legislature/city council system exists to discuss community level issues. The legal system exists to resolve personal conflicts which cannot be resolved the individuals themselves.

             

Purposes of Government

What is the purpose of government?

The primary purpose of government is to provide the structure for citizens to do what they desire and for those citizens to prosper.

Whether the government we speak of is national, state, or local, the primary purpose of any government is to provide the structure for citizens to flourish.

Main duties within this role are related to safety and security. The citizens should be able to rely on a basic level of safety. This includes military defense, border security, and other types of law enforcement. This includes health inspections such as the inspection of foods, drugs, and restaurants. Other safety areas which the government should manage include fire prevention, airline inspections, and cargo inspection.

The government must also provide the basic necessities for civilized living. These areas include: water (adequate supply, clean water), sewage treatment, and waste management. Without taking care of these basic necessities the citizens cannot prosper.

The government should also provide infrastructure or monitor infrastructure for business and communication. Specific topics in this area include: money (minting and printing money), roads, canals, energy, electrical power, postal service, and telecommunication services. These elements of infrastructure allow goods, services, and ideas to be exchanged. Such exchange of goods, services and ideas creates synergy which allows citizens to flourish.

Note that the private sector can provide some of these functions. However, if no private sector entity exists, and if the scope of the problem is larger than the family unit, then a government agency should be created to provide the service.

Each of these duties fall into the primary purpose of government, which is to provide an environment where the citizens can do as they wish and flourish as much as possible.