Brain and Body as model for Government

If you look at human society and compare it to a living organism, then the government could be thought of as being comparable to the brain.  Even the simplest of organisms needs some sort of brain to coordinate and organize the activity of the different subsystems that make up the complete organism.  Without a brain to coordinate the activity the creature risks movement all "out of synch" and possible injury or death.   The more complex the organism, the larger and more complex the brain and nervous system must be to control and guide the different living processes that coexist within the organism.


Similarly, a human society must have a government, or ruling body, of some sort.  To advocate a society with minimal government restrictions is similar to advocating that a human being exist with no brain, or minimal brain function, to guide the various parts of the body.  This seems ridiculous in both cases.

A society with minimal government organization or guidance is almost guaranteed to have the basic fabric of society break down and dissolve as few will have the necessary determination or resources to actually fix the problems when they occur.  The strong will tyrannize the weak and soon any semblance of civil society will disappear.

This is similar to the destruction of Roman civil society after the devastating Plagues in the 4th century and the ascendancy of the Catholic Church.   In 100 AD even domestic servants and common folk could read and write and communicate via the written word.  By 900 AD even the Kings and Queens of Europe were illiterate and could not read and write.  The only people skilled in the practice of literacy were the Priests and Monks of the Catholic Church.  Scientific and Intellectual progress was halted for almost one thousand years.

Based on this cursory analogy, it seems to me that the only path to a rich and vibrant society full of genuine opportunity for the greatest number of people is with a society that is guided by a robust and honorable government of able bodied and educated men and women.  And that government must have the power to guide and regulate most of the basic functions of that society in some practical and efficient manner besides the use of brute force and selfish opportunism.


Therefore, anyone who advocates a smaller government and diminished government responsibilities in response to government error, is similar to one who would advocate a lobotomy for a person who makes an ignorant mistake.  In both cases the proposed solution causes more problems than it cures.



December 10, 2017
copyright (c)
William Schaeffer