Liberty Now

It is impossible for us to begin to tackle what it means to be a Society when we exclude so much of Society from participation in solutions.

In his book, “Common Sense”, Thomas Paine  dissected the meanings of “Society” vs “Government”. In doing so, he clearly demonstrated that  Society occurs anytime we find a gathering of individuals coming together to shelter, enrich, and  otherwise inhabit like spaces one with another. Society is what we see when mankind exists in  unity and gathers inspiration from one another in an effort to build, develop, and evolve as a  group and even as a species.  

Paine delineates Government, as well. He is astute in his observation that Government occurs as  Society grows and acquires rules and laws protecting the rights of individuals along with attracting those who cause harm by violating those rights. Government exists as an Enforcer of  the rules of Society only. Because Government is given power as an Enforcer it can be seen as an  Evil due to its potential to attract the power hungry who would misuse it. Government, then, is  only a Necessary Evil, and one that must forever be kept small and carefully in check. 

Government was never designed to take on the roles of Society. But, here we are. We have  Society abdicating its duties in ways that are often horrific. Children raised in abusive  environments and essentially abandoned, soldiers dealing with the devastations of service and  often fighting both resulting illness and addiction, vast swaths of persons unable to care for their  families and forced to choose between essentials in impossible situations: All of these are due to  failings of Society, not Government. 

In our attempts to call on “The Government” to fix the painful realities we witness in our  everyday lives, we walk away from our own responsibilities in these situations. Our  responsibilities as a Society are to create the framework which treats, prevents, and cares for “the  least of these”. When we attempt to pass this responsibility on to Government we do two things:  We hand to Government that which was never Government’s right nor responsibility, and We fail  as a Society to take up our own responsibility and right to care for members of Society. 

Marx was wrong. He accurately pointed to the suffering of others, however, he called upon class  division within Society itself and encouraged Society to implode. Marx called for warfare within  Society leading to the destructions we have historically witnessed over and over again. The  solution is not to disassemble Society in class warfare. 

The solution is to empower Society and acknowledge its proper role while placing Government  back into the perspective of its proper and minor role in the lives of the members of Society. We  are Society. It is not Government which will build the future, rather, it is Society which will do  so. We need to learn to trust ourselves again.