The Purpose of A Government

Whether a citizen decides to join a fight for freedom and justice depends heavily on what he or she expects from a government. By listening to this episode, you will learn the concept of social contract.

Hi everyone!

This is your host Sayar Henry and I’m happy that you are listening to the second episode of my podcast right now. 

Today, I want to talk to you about something every one of us should understand and be aware of. 

And when I say everyone, I’m particularly referring to the people of Myanmar, both young and old, who are fighting for democracy but never before had a chance to expose themselves to the basic and foundational concepts of politics and related philosophy.

Wait, did I just mention politics and philosophy?

Yes, I did!

Well, I know that many of us in Myanmar society, by design, are not interested in these two … scary … words. 

But don’t be scared just yet …. because I’m not going to cover the subject of Political Science.

I have no right to do so as I myself have not invested deep enough in that pool of knowledge.

I’m just someone like you, raised in this society with limited beliefs and worldview. 

Though I’m happy to be the one sharing it to you today, what I’m about to tell you is something I wish I learned much earlier in life.

If you are in any way like me, at some point of your life, you probably might have imagined what it would be like to live with as much freedom as humanly possible. 

In such a world, you and I would consider almost everything to be our natural right. 

We can speak out about anything we want.

We can claim the ownership of everything we find.

We can go from one place to another without restrictions and permissions.

We can believe in any religion of our choice.

We can defend ourselves from external threats by any means we are capable of.

It might sound pretty nice for everyone to have all these rights.

But then there might also be conflicts of interest. 

For example, let’s say, you move from one place to another until one day you find a nice house. 

When you find it, you decide to live in it.

Then one day, I come to your place and I like it too. 

And I think of modifying the house to my liking.

But you don’t agree with it. 

So I say, “Hey, I want this house to be in that particular way. I’m going to change it for the better. If you are not willing to do such improvement, I deserve this house more than you do. So from now on, I own this place.”

In response to my demand of the property, you reply, “Look, I don’t care how you want to improve it. I found the house first. So I own it.” 

Now, if we keep pushing like that, there will be no settlement as to who should own that place.

As this argument escalates, it’s possible that we decide to punch each other and start a fight.

Then, at the same time, we both would come to believe that we have the right to defend ourselves or to defeat the other person to own that house. 

So we may even begin to use lethal weapons like knives or guns so that the winner can take the property.

It all happens because both of us believe that we have the right to own whatever we can find, and whatever we can keep in our possession as long as we are physically capable of maintaining the ownership.

And it all gets worse and violent because both of us believe that we have the right to physically harm the other person as long as doing so satisfies our individual needs or desires.  

If you think about it, this conflict of interest right there can happen to every other person in the same society in the exact same way.

It means everyone in that society believes he or she … can … take other people’s properties, inflict pain on each other, and imprison each other without trial and judgment, just for the sake of personal reasons. 

This will surely lead to a society where no one is safe anymore – a complete anarchy.

In another word, if people want to keep their own safety and well-being in check, they need to give up some of their rights that can cause trouble to someone else the same way that someone else can cause to them. 

To put it simply, people need to give up the right to hurt other people if they don’t want to be hurt by others.

And at the same time, the rights they value or believe to be fundamental must also be protected so that everyone is entitled to these same rights.

It is obvious that no one person or an organization can achieve this common goal of the people in the society.

So people have to form a governing body that will represent and protect all the fundamental rights that matter to them.

For example, let’s say, people in that society want the governing body to protect and ensure their freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom of information.

In return, they are willing to give up some other rights, such as the right to tax on people’s earnings or properties and the right to punish those who break the law, to that governing body.

And that right there, the agreement between the people and the government, is called the social contract.

With no such compromise and contract, there can be no government. 

In another word, the primary purpose of a government is to protect the rights of its people.

In contrast to functioning that way, if the government is imposing the rights that people expect to have or the rights that they deserve, that government cannot be trusted at all because it has already broken the social contract by violating its people’s rights. 

Now, with this knowledge and idea of social contract, I want to end this episode by giving you three questions to think about. 

Question 1: As a citizen of Myanmar, what kind of rights really matter to you?

Question 2: Based on what’s happening in Myanmar, is there any chance that the military junta can protect and ensure these rights for you?

Question 3: If you have the ability and authority to represent the people of Myanmar, what would be the first step you take under current situations? 

Well, I hope you have time to observe our society and reflect on these questions this weekend.

Thank you for listening.

And I hope you know what you are fighting for.

Stay safe and come back for more.

Justice will prevail.