Entry 35: Government

Do you agree with Henry David Thoreau's statement "That government is best which governs not at all"? Why or why not? Do you prefer to have an authority figure telling you what you need to do, or do you prefer to act freely? What are the benefits or problems with each way?

• I believe that this paradox is a very realistic paradox. If we limit the freedom of people by governing very strictly and creating too many laws, the people will think that the government is dictating over them and would start to rebel. This is the case for almost all of the oppressive monarchies and dictatorships (there are some exceptions, though). I believe that the government should only intervene with civil matters when those civil matters are disputed about and cannot be solved by the people themselves. Therefore, I believe that the best government (or best systems) is when there is an authoritative figure that overlooks things and allows freedom to a certain extent, but an authoritative figure that intervenes and helps solve issues when there are any issues. 
• When an authoritative figure tells people what to do all the time, the people will start to become unsatisfied if things go wrong, blaming the authoritative figure for every fault, and this may eventually lead to conflicts such as rebellions. However, if you act freely without anything controlling you or overlooking you, you might get into problems that are hard to solve by yourself, or problems that could have long been prevented.