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Why the Founders were Right--Reason 1: Proper Role of Government

I am a firm believer that the Constitution of the United States should be returned to and stuck to. There are many ways in which people have skewed up the government, and I'll cover several more of those in upcoming posts. For now, I want to focus on the proper role of government. 
So. Let me ask you a question. Don't read on until you have an answer (you can even post yours in the comments below! :) What is the government's job? 
Now, some will say it's government's job to keep the peace, keep everyone in line. Some say it exists to keep things equal. Some say it's to help people. There are a plethora of other ideas of government's job, and the average group of people cannot agree on any one definition that suits them all. So perhaps we should go to an expert, since we can't seem to agree. 

Ever heard of Plato? Aristotle? Socrates??
Aristotle, among his many other contributions to the world, gave us something now called "Aristotle's Line".  It looks roughly like this.



Basically, Aristotle says that everything that is truly of worth to mankind happens exclusively below the line.
That may seem to be a pretty strong statement, but think about it: did the national government ever nurture you, play with you, make you feel loved, teach you things that changed your life for the better, or bring you closer to God?...I thought not. Chances are, every time anything like that happened to you, it was from someone who had a connection with you below the line.
So, you may be beginning to wonder, what's the point of everything above the Line? Or, put differently, what is Government's job? Aristotle tells us that the government's job, the job of everything above the line, is to protect what is below the line. It is supposed to keep people from stealing from each other or killing each other or whatever so that people can enjoy having happy families and communities. That's all.
 How does this square with much of the regulation of everything that the government has in place, or the welfare programs or practically any "program" that the national government imposes? ...it doesn't. These things are outside the proper role of government. Once more: the government should protect us and leave us alone!
The Founders understood this and the government depicted for us in the Constitution is carefully built so that the community would thrive and larger-scale bodies of government stay out of their way. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, government has gradually been overstepping its bounds until today, when we have this monstrosity of a government totally unrecognizable in the Constitution. It definitely meddles in affairs below the line. This is one of several ways that America needs to get back to its roots--government needs to get back in its place and stay there.

For more information, I recommend reading the Constitution. =) That's all for now!


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