Society is Not the Government — Living in Liberty, Peace, and Unity
By: John Warner
Tags: Freedom, Society, Liberty, Politics

Liberty empowers us to live and thrive, Peace provides us safety and security, and Unity commits us to fairness and compassion

John Warner, Riverplace, Greenville, SC

Someone recently told me, “I find you intriguing. I can’t quite figure out your politics…and it keeps me guessing.”

Joe Manchin recently said, “I’m fiscally responsible and socially compassionate. Can’t we be both?” I wish he were President.

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In The Future and Its Enemies, Virginia Postrel described the community I want to live in. “Dynamism gives individuals both the freedom to learn and the incentives to share what they discover. It not only permits but encourages decentralized experiments and competitive trial and error … A dynamic civilization allows its members to gain from the things they themselves do not know but other people do… without asking permission of a higher, but less informed, authority. ”

Recently I have begun advocating a vision of the society I want to live in based on Liberty, Peace, and Unity.

Liberty empowers innovators, entrepreneurs, and creatives to thrive.

Peace provides safe and healthy neighborhoods where we live and raise our families.

Unity commits us to equity and inclusion allowing everyone to realize their full human potential and leaving no one behind.

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Society is not the government. I agree with Thomas Paine who in 1776 in Common Sense said, “Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first a patron, the last a punisher. Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”

Government is necessary, but as Thomas Jefferson believed, government is best which governs least.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Michael Jordan was one of the best basketball players of all time because, from the time he was a small child, the basket was always ten feet off the ground. Society works best with good governance that sets and enforces the basic rules providing certainty and stability. But if the government becomes both a competitor and a referee, or if the government is co-opted by competitors, the game is degraded.

Public spaces make our lives better. A nice courtyard is maintained by my condominium’s homeowner’s association that we all enjoy. My city has tree lined streets and wonderful parks that make the city a delightful place to live. If the government over regulates our use of our private property, it destroys the freedom we worked hard to achieve.

Photo by Zac Durant on Unsplash

Some people need a minimum of resources to have financial security in their lives to productively contribute to society. Everyone in our society should have enough to eat, a place to sleep, and the ability to go to a doctor when they are sick. Society should provide those resources without dictating the choices people make, so everyone, rich and poor alike, can lead their lives with dignity and freedom.