Megacapitalism: an Alternate Theory of the State
What is the purpose of the state? What is the purpose of government? Philosophers and political scientists have attempted to answer these questions in various ways. Some say that its purpose is safety, or the securing of individual rights. Still others say that government exists to represent and enact the consent and desires of the governed. Or that its purpose is the common good of the people, which itself may be variously defined: as the "greatest good for the greatest number," as Utilitarians say, or at least the least suffering, and so on. Some understand government in the framework of a social contract, for the mutual benefit of the governed. The Aristotelian tradition provides a quite different answer: that humans are an organic part of their (city-)state, which exists to promote virtue and excellence. The Constitution of the United States provides a list of potential purposes of government: "to form a more perfect Union, establish ...