Centralized Government: the good, the bad or the ugly?

If you search the internet for quotes and popular ideas regarding government, you will find that the grand majority of such ideas concern the unnecessary placement of government and in general, negative aspects of government and democracy. “If human beings are fundamentally good, no government is necessary; if they are fundamentally bad, any government, being composed of human beings, would be bad also” (Fred Woodworth), is one example. While I do not believe that humans are ‘bad,’ I do believe that some form of greater power or control is necessary to procure and ensure harmonious living.

While I do believe that ‘Big government’ is a mistake, I do feel that some things should be under the jurisdiction of a central government agency, such as health care, many laws and regulations and the penal system. Health care and access to health care is a basic human right and needs to be exercised by all individuals in a population, with the aid of the federal government if necessary. In the case of the United States, I strongly believe that access to health care is in need of supervision and modification by the federal government because the current state of health care access and regulation is unacceptable. An estimated 50.7 million Americans are currently uninsured or have not had health insurance in the past 12 months (USA Today, 2010). The CDC reports similar numbers a one year earlier: an estimated 46.3 or 15.4% of all Americans reported being uninsured in 2009. This is a growing problem that I believe can only be solved by government intervention.

Laws are a vital element in human society and evolutionarily have played a key role in the development of modern societies. These laws only remain ‘laws’ if there is an authority by which to enforce them. In this case, while State Governments may play a part in the enforcement and creation of these laws, I still believe that the federal government should retain some control over the laws of this country. However, if federal control over this particular issue was diminished, but not completely eradicated, it could be argued as a beneficial alternative to the current state of things. For all intents and purposes, laws are one more rationale as to why our society requires some form of centralized government.

While there remain many explanations concerning the malaise of governments and ill-effects upon human society, I must abstain from jumping on the internet bandwagon. I understand that centralized government is far from perfect, but I do believe that it is necessary to intervene when the people deem it necessary and to uphold our laws and ensure that the basic human rights of its people are met. Also, as a personal note, arguments and ideas concerning this topic are extremely difficult for me to form a concise, simple argument for or against. There are entirely too many variables to consider, firstly, and when considering human nature in general, I feel that it is practically impossible to decide what is best for ‘the greater good.’

Citations:

Reynolds, Denise. “CDC: Number of Americans without Health Insurance Coverage Increases.” CDC, June 2010. Web. Accessed November 2, 2010.

http://www.emaxhealth.com/1506/cdc-number-americans-without-health-insurance-coverage-increases

Wolfe, Richard. “Number of Uninsured Americans Rises to 50.7 million.” USA Today, September 17, 2010. Web. Accessed November 2, 2010.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-09-17-uninsured17_ST_N.htm