What are the legitimate functions of government?

[jaguar]

God this thread is getting a tad myopic for my liking, time to post

First off, not all governments can NOT represent their people, take a more direct democratic model - Classical Athenian. Now I’m out on a limb here because the only "citizens" in Athens were +20 males, BUT over 6000 were required in the hall for a law to be passed, juries for criminals often considered of up to *500* people. A correct implementation of Marx’s theories has similarities.

Democracy sucks - until we come up with something better.

Government is stupid brute force, period.

Mao said political power comes out of the barrel of a gun, Bush has just vindicated that, I think it’s a pile of shit for people who are incapable of more delicate politics.

I imagine we'll butt heads in the future

Muse: Dham and I have been crashing into each other about once a month since we both got here - you get used to it=)

They were lead and counseled by their elders and shamans. Not governed. Rules and regulations weren't imposed by the elders, they were morally developed through the whole society.

Erm....... They were applied by the society, on the society, the people governed the people inside a structure, and self-governance is still governance.

.......crime was not existent within the anarchistic society of the Spanish Revolution...

And the hospital system is impeccable in Cuba. It’s when things get hard the dissent starts to flow.

and to answer your questions.....yes I have driven on a highway, do we need governments to build the highways or to we need businesses to?

This one scared me. What the FUNDAMENTAL purpose of business - to make money, by handing over al our infrastructure to private hands we are asking for one hell of allot of trouble, I’m watching our public transport net here fall apart because its in private hands, things that are meant to provide board services to the community SHOULD BE RUN BY COMPANIES.

Can you guarantee to me that the U.S. government is not in the war on Afghanistan for oil?

This comes up again - the US Govt has been reading too much Mao. Fuckit the response was not justified, a better, abet longer term strategy would have been to assassinate Bin Laden in his own community, change perspectives in the Muslim world, takes longer but its s more permanent solution, by bombing, they’ve toppled an unstable/nutter government, and achieved little else apart form some pride regained and displacing/killing/maiming hundreds of thousands of people. Pulling that off, the delicate political approach requires too much though for Bush I think - and the Us population that are calling for blood, so blind, so myopic they don't care of more Afghanis, innocent Afghanis like the innocent Americans in the WTC die, to get bin laden that died in the WTC, fucking sad.

unless you consider the Iraqi seizure of Kuwait to be a fait accompli at the time

Last I checked one country invading another wasn’t a legal prerequisite for the USA to wander in for gods sake, take the global policeman shit and shove it, I’ve seen more honest cops in Vietnam.

I do not think that 250 million people could agree on any single thing

this really is the crux of the issue, it’s just too bloody big all round. Something like the Athenian model would be hilarious - try getting about 30 MILLION people in congress lol. If power bloc weren’t such an issue I’d like to see it broken down into like autonomous states, with then a legislative council of one member form each state for issues of national importance (foreign affairs) pure fallacy of course but I think democracy loses its grounding in countries so large, that disattachment from political candidates, and the apathy that evolves as a result.

In the Spanish revolution crime as you stated before such as looting ones neighbors, was not present. The crimes being conduced were by those of the communists and fascists attacking the Anarchists.

Sorry but WHAT.THE.FUCK.IS.THIS.SHIT.

What are you? a peaceful anarchist? If no one exerts power over anyone else then we're all free? That was a joke system we use in debates at school - peaceful anarchy. What happens when one bloke get a few mates together to cause trouble, you're fucked because you're on your own, so afterwards you form your own group and probably have some kind of leader - voila, a government is formed. Anarchists are people who are confused - but too apathetic to do anything about it.