Republic

We looked at and are going with the natural law. That is what we see working in the relationships around us. The best way for a group to get together is in a friendship setting; everyone gets along and we all agree. But these are based in a commonality such as sports, schools and proximity. We can only interact at certain levels depending on the type of relationship. Basically a community or group decide what areas they will share and what are out of bounds. This is normally done naturally between ourselves. If people want to formalize the relationship it can be done by charters, bylaws and various forms of contracts. The one that shares the most and is the most intimate is the marriage contract. The less intimate the contract, the fewer areas we want to share. We might let the neighbor borrow our lawnmower but won't let a stranger from another town do it. 

While establishing governing authority at different levels, we have to keep this in mind. While some free spirits are perfectly happy sharing and sharing alike, most people wisely are not. This isn't selfishness but is wisdom. The further authority is from whom they are supposed to attend, the more indifference there is.  We call it being out of touch. So we set up layers with county, city, state and federal responsibilities. Those closest to us take care of the more intimate details and the furthest away take care of things that pertain to national interest. These interests and areas we agree to share are where we debate details. Those who stick closer to natural law will want less federal and more local sharing. They like voluntary personal agreements the best and dislike compulsion. Those who haven't mastered natural life will want to cede more responsibilities over to a governing authority, hoping for a better outcome. 

The tendancy in ancient history was to find some kind of figurehead to trust in, hopefully with supernatural authority. This still goes on in countries today. The change that came with Greek philosophy was the concept of a republic. Instead of a figurehead for everyone to follow, a constitution was revered. The people would come together and agree on what areas to share in common, what class of people would run them and how to make changes as needed. A constitutional government ruled by laws is what makes up a republic. It starts out as a timocratic friendship; where for the most part, everyone agrees on the degree of collaboration and sharing laid out in the constitution. As people come along who want intervention and favors, it decends into a democratic party system where getting the majority on ones side is more important than taking care of the common interests of everyone. Poor decisions are made out of hysteria and mob rule. Leaders circumvent the constitution in order to please the mob. This is a history that repeats itself.

I still think it interesting to look at ideas about these ideas on sharing and authority but hope that it doesn't get too boring for you the reader. We have covered sharing lands and family structures. What kind of people do we want in charge? Are there advantages to a class system? We have touched on so many areas, lets go into a little more detail next time.