Our world faces all sorts of problems.  We have seniors that need money for housing, food, and medical care.  We have people that need money to go to college or get training to get a better job.  We have blighted neighborhoods.  We have public schools that are sub par.  The list goes on and on.

Who do we look to for solutions?  Whose problems are these to solve?  Many people look to government.  Some look to the school board, local medical district, the city government, the county government, the state government, the national government, or even the United Nations.  But who should solve these problems?  What is the role of each of these layers of government?

Often times we hear stories about someone that needs help, and our initial response is, “Why isn’t government doing something for those people?”  We feel like we pay our taxes, and that we are personally unable to help the situation, so we expect the government to do something about it.  But this dynamic creates bigger and bigger government.  I also feel that it creates citizens that no longer view these problems as theirs to solve.

It is my belief that the difference between a democracy and other forms of governments is not just how leaders are selected, but the role that those leaders have.  In a true democracy, we do not elect temporary kings, rather, we as citizens feel the need to solve these problems.

Each level of government should be as little as possible.  The national government should limit itself to international security, international trade, and interstate issues.  The state governments should limit themselves to the narrowest issues.  The same with county and city governments.  The vast majority of problems should be left to individuals to solve.  Individuals that get together to solve these problems.  It is through this that the real responsibility of the individual to solve the problems will be kept in mind.