Anarchy Implies the Absence of Any Government

¶ … Anarchy implies the absence of any government and by extension, of a rule of law. In a state of anarchy, no one has officially sanctioned or recognized power. Power may be assumed by a militarily strong group of people, however. Anarchy results from a lack of cohesiveness among the public, as during or after a civil war or severe mistrust of or restructuring of the federal government. In a failing state such as Iraq, anarchy could easily become a reality.

Our daily lives would be changed considerably if we were to live in a failed state or anarchy as opposed to a democracy. Little things that we take for granted, like garbage pickup and street lights, would no longer be controlled. In a failed state, each person learns how to survive on his or her own. Without governmental regulation, banks and businesses would risk failure and trust in financial institutions would be significantly undermined. Social services would be next to nonexistent, except for what help would come from charitable humanitarian organizations that are not affiliated with any government.

My daily life would change dramatically: I would fear for a police state and what that could imply. I suspect that whoever had bigger weapons would have the upper hand in any given situation. Therefore, more people would elect to carry guns and other weapons for personal protection as well as offensive measures. I might even elect to do the same. I would have to save all my money in cash form because I would no longer have any trust in the banks. Even driving would become more dangerous since traffic laws would not be enforced by a regular police force. In an anarchy I would also expect far more petty theft and crimes such as robbery, stealing, and looting, because without a police force backed by a government, people would take advantage of the chaos to do anything they pleased.

Essay 2: Government serves several functions in a modern society. Four of the government's main functions include making laws through the legislative process, enforcing laws through a judicial process, collecting taxpayer money, and budgeting and allocating taxpayer monies through social service and other institutionalized programs. These four functions are manifested in our daily lives in many different ways. For example, laws can be created at a local, state, or federal level. My daily life is in many ways guided by the specific laws of my city, state, and country. Whether or not I can drink at age 18, whether or not I can drive at age 15, whether or not I can get married or drive a certain speed: these are some of our personal decisions that are affected by laws. Similarly, my life is strongly affected by tax collection. I mostly encounter sales tax, for nearly every day I will have to purchase something. Income tax is also something that I am strongly affected by since I can see the amount the government takes out of every paycheck at work. I am also affected by governmental programs and services, including low-interest student loans. In fact, most universities receive some kind of federal funding. The highways we drive on are also funded by government taxpayer money.