The Size of Government Thread.

[Aaron Fox]

At the end of the day, the size requirement of a government is tied to the complexity of civilization in the technological, economical, and sociological contexts.

With our technological, economical, and sociological contexts now and the future? You'll need a very big government, and it is only going to get bigger. Add to the fact that shit like the ability to produce synth-plagues is just falling in terms of educational and equipment requirements...

... yeah. Have fun with those implications (take a gander at how many times some idiots with more ideology than sense decided to push things to very irrational sub-optimal options being the only course of action, now picture them with biological weapons).

One of the things that people here will forget is that, at the end of the day, we're in an era where a haegemon has forced trade, and thus war plummeted. If this system of international trade falls apart though, we'll go back to having a world war once a fucking generation because the only other type of international trade (i.e. what I would call 'core-resource', aka 'we need certain resources to keep civilization afloat, so all the great powers agree that international trade must be a thing' aka what dominated the Bronze Age in the Med and elsewhere) is no longer viable.

 

[Doomsought]

All laws are ultimately enforced via violence, therefor government should only take up functions that you can justify using violence in the support of: Criminal justice, contract enforcement, dealing with military threats, etc.

 

[Aaron Fox]

All laws are ultimately enforced via violence, therefor government should only take up functions that you can justify using violence in the support of: Criminal justice, contract enforcement, dealing with military threats, etc.

That isn't the case I'm afraid, as the capabilities of a government have to scale with the complexity of civilization and how complex the technological, economical, and sociological contexts of its current era. Thus, you need a government that is simply huge in the long run. Anyone that talks about shrinking/reducing the scale of the government is only going to fuck you over, pure and simple.

 

[Doomsought]

civilization and how complex the technological, economical, and sociological contexts of its current era. Thus, you need a government that is simply huge in the long run

That is only if you insist on ruling a nation rather than policing it. Liabilities are always more efficient than regulations. The economy will take care of itself as long as you keep it capitalist and stamp down any coercive elements.