All civilized societies have agreed that government is necessary for people to live together peacefully. What has not been agreed upon is what role government should have.

On the extreme left end of the political spectrum is totalitarianism. Totalitarian governments control every aspect of life; economics, education, culture, etc. Some glaring examples of these are the former Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and Pol Pots' Cambodia. The history books are full of the horrors created by this system, and the eventual collapse from within. Obviously this is not the correct role for government.

At the other end of the spectrum is anarchy, or no government. This always turns into a totalitarian form of one type or another, due to calls for "something to be done". Normally the anarchistic state is artificially created and those who created it are only too willing to stand up and "do something" about it. They demand unaccountable power in return, which brings us full circle to the previously discussed unacceptable role.

Somewhere near the center of the spectrum is democracy, or rule by the majority. This sounds good on the surface until you begin to look at the ramifications. What if the majority decides to trample on a minorities rights? What protections do individuals have? Since there is no restriction on what may be done by government in a democracy, it will deteriorate into anarchy and the resultant totalitarianism, as we learned from the Roman Empire.

If left, right, and center are not proper roles for government, where do we look? Try the Constitution. Fitting into the spectrum somewhere between democracy and anarchy is a limited government whose powers are spelled out in writing and whose only role is protecting individual rights without regard to social or economic standing.

The greatest difficulty with this form of government is maintaining it. Due to the unfortunate fact that some men will always desire power over others, there are constant attempts to expand the power and authority of government. Another factor is the people's willingness and ability to govern themselves, or to put it another way, I govern me, you govern you, and we leave each other alone.

Education is indispensable in maintaining a free country. That is the number one problem with government controlling schools. If we need to limit government to remain free, and at the same time let the government that is continually straining at the leash control what our children learn, our children or grandchildren will grow up slaves of a totalitarian regime.

Read your Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and whatever else you can find written by the Founders. To learn the truth you need to go to the original source. A thorough understanding of our system of government will enable you to know when some politician is trying to pull the wool over your eyes, and expand his power and authority over you. We can then regain the freedoms already lost.

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