Government means a central superordinating power that is, more than anything else, responsible for the following things: Law and order in the land it governs and safety and security and opportunity for its people.
That is:
Governments are instituted and put in place by the People to guarantee for the People the “inalienable” Right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, as Thomas Jefferson phrased it in the American Declaration of Independence.
Or the right to the security of person and property, as some other sources may state it.
Governments that are instituted and put in place by the People through fair, free and transparent elections for the attainment of these public purposes are legitimate and lawful.
And those governments that are not so openly and freely instituted by the free and un-coerced choice of the People lack legitimacy and lawfulness.
So, the question is, how does a government act once it comes into power – after the People have elected it and put it in place?
Is the government busy providing for its people the most essential services on which every society depends, and without which no society can really exist, function and prosper, such as hospitals, schools and adequate job opportunities?
Or is the government squandering the People’s resources and wealth in wasteful and unproductive activities?
And in the pursuit of fake and phantom glories, to fuel and enhance its own re-election prospects, while “the residents and citizens wither away,” as someone recently put it?
END
© 2012 Syed Husain Pasha
Dr. Pasha is an educator and scholar of exceptional
talent, training and experience. He can be reached at DrSyedPasha [at]
AOL [dot] com or www.IslamicSolutions.com.
