If you pay a "private police force" to enforce laws (wtf did they come from? The private law making company?), they ARE the government. Simple definition of government= a monopoly on force. In areas where there is no police force, or military, the mob is the government. Anarchism is not a system of government: it is a transitional period between governments. It is necessarily the shortest and most chaotic period in a society as the void left by the previous government is filled by the new.
As to Purist's post back on page 1, the Declaration of Independence is not written in modern phrasology. If you only read the Federalist and the Constitution, it should already be obvious that "welfare" and "union" are not even remotely defined as you attempted to define them.
The union is referring to the states: there can be no mistake if you read the Federalist. The purpose of the "union" is defended in the Federalist and spelled out in minute detail: to protect against foreign or domestic enemies, to aid in commerce, and to allow for uniformity of law. The primary purpose of the Constitution is to severely limit the powers of the Federal government, and this was cemented by the addition of the Bill of Rights. In this respect, Libertarians have it right: the government is doing much more than it was ever intended to do.
"Welfare," as quoted in Article 1 of the Constitution, refers to the security of the country itself, and has nothing to do with individuals, i.e. nothing to do with making sure each individual is happy/well-fed/clothed, whatever. The modern definition of "welfare" is a purely socialist concept and not connected with the original intent of the founders. The use of the word in Federalist 1 clearly is meant to apply to individuals, but you need look no further than Federalist 5 than to see that personal liberty, religion, and property were to be secured by the federal government: not restricted, abolished, and confiscated, respectively.
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11-19-2010, 08:55 PM
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