What if you woke up tomorrow and government was gone?

Originally posted by MaMaa

Originally posted by smithjustinb
Its called, "growing balls". If.the government was gone, the economy would.be too. A lot of people would die. Survival of the fittest is the way of the world. It would not be happy, but thats okay. At least it would be real.

That seems a bit short sighted! No local government means no local police and there certainly are not enough people out there protecting the average person from the criminals more than willing to do horrible things. Criminals going uncontrolled hardly seems like 'growing balls' and I don't know many men who would stop them unless they were at direct risk themselves of their family were at immediate risk.

Well you dont know many men that would survive. Its not a matter of protecting others,its a matter of protecting your self.

Originally posted by Hopechest
Well if the government was gone tomorrow you'd have a very short window of opportunity to enjoy your new freedom.

Almost instantly you would see factions forming up with the strongest one gaining power over the others and instituting thier own form of government.

It is literally impossible to group 300 million plus people together and not have this happen. Basically you can not have a large group of people together who do not form a society.

Even the hunter-gatherer tribes had their own little societies with rules to follow.

So what you're saying is basically you cant live without having someone to tell you what to do, how to do, and when to do it.

Wow... I feel happy for you for having your current controlled environment and I hope your human handlers, gods, patrons, fathers and mothers of the government never fail you or else I fear you'll be food for the dogs if something "bad" happens - as for me, I'd be singing some godless version of "oh happy days" or something.

But I have to tell you something; I've been watching your posts, and I've got hand it to you, you try hard to indoctrinate others into a more "head-down", submissive and acceptable way of seeing things.

You try to persuade them to substitute their fighting will and their indignation on certain subjects making them believe its all normal and legal and for their own good, so they should accept and embrace every government's act, law or "innovation".

You're a busy little bee...

Here... have a cookie

Personally,

I think we will see a lot of idiotic people try to rob or steal from one of the armed Americans we have in the country.

It will probably balance out. Farm hand work fir room and board type stuff.

WHAT A FANTASTIC QUESTION!!!

I will post my reply before I read others, as I don't want to be influenced by what others have said already, and I'm also curious to see if others have written what I'm about to say.

For the past 5 years, I've been running an experiment with myself. I have stepped away from the tv set, the radio, news streams...etc. I had the desire to experience what my life would be like with out such things. I've had to pretend on some levels, as one can not truly get away from government, unless I woke up one morning and realized that it's actually gone. I have only been able to pull away from it as much as I can.

I actually didn't participate in the last election, for the first time in my life. This was my way of not acknowledging that system. At first I felt guilty, felt like I was being a bad American for not conforming on some level...but those feeling quickly started to subside. What little information I have allowed to come in, our government dealings and decisions since the last election, I have to honestly say, I made the right choice for me. This was absolutely liberating.

Since then, I've pulled inward a bit more...the world is brighter and I spiritually feel healthier knowing that I was not put here to serve a government...I came here to be a part of something that is much bigger than any government. I'm still in that exploration, and I hope it never stops.

What if we woke up one morning and realized the government was no more?...well, I guess the first thing we'd all do is meet up somewhere to talk about it, as a community, perhaps in shock...but I feel we could handle that.

Greed will lead to factions then wars then some type of government /law and order will be back in place. If there were no more wars or conflicts the human species will die out while animals that kill each other will remain. Money makes the world go round.

I apologize for my previous statement,I actually am thankful for the government in a lot of different areas,and a lot of areas left to be desired as well...that said...it was pretty funny though...Aldo Nova being the topper

Government is the reason why we're on sites like these arguing about issues that HAVE ZERO #ING IMPACT ON THE WORLD.

Limited government is a happy medium between no government and big government. I choose Limited government with an emphasis on conservative/Libertarian.

As many here probably already know, I oppose Statism mightily.

..... the number of posts in ATS would drop by 90% ????

reply to post by seabag


It's obvious we need a federal government but the one we have now is definitely not of and for the people!
Instead of eliminating the federal government we would be better off reducing its size, eliminating much of the
secrecy that is part of our federal government! Changing the way elections are run; money should not choose our leaders, we should create open debates and rid ourselves of corporate lobbyist. Along with allowing our senators to read entire legislation before voting on it! These are very simple things that could give us a better more competent leadership! I am sure there are others who have similar ideas that can give us a more stable
and fair leadership because the way we are going now, we are running out of future for our descendants!
Is it already too late for this unmotivated America?

reply to post by nosacrificenofreedom


It's obvious that you people can never be absolutely free, because non of you trust eachother with freedom.

It seam like you people need an army of cops and laws to feel safe. So what you people really want is safety, not freedom.

The US government is doing a good job of trying to keep you safe. But they need to be able to controll each and every one of you to do a even better job. So your system is actually doing exactly as you want them to. But still you complain. Because what you really want is for the government to protect you from the other citizens. But you dont want the government to keep you on a leach, because it violates your freedom.

i would be happy becuase the econemy would probaly boom!

reply to post by spy66

It's obvious that you people can never be absolutely free, because non of you trust eachother with freedom.

It seam like you people need an army of cops and laws to feel safe. So what you people realy want is safety, not freedom.

There is a lot of truth in what you say. Absolute freedom is anarchy; and I certainly am not comfortable with that much freedom. A civilized society needs law and order. The main responsibility of the government is the safety and security of the people.

The US government is doing a good job of trying to keep you safe. But they need to be able to controll each and every one of you to do a even better job. So your system is actually doing exactly as you want them to. But still you complain. Because what you really want is for the government to protect you from the other citizens. But you dont want the government to keep you on a leach, because its agaist your writes.

You're exactly right but how much is too much? I think the framers had it right in the original intent of the federal government but we've allowed it to expand beyond the scope of its responsibility. What we have now is a far cry from the what the framers intended.

We lack the ability to agree on the middle ground even though it was spelled out for us - its called Limited Government.

Wouldn't care, the world would keep on spinning. I would wonder how long it would take people to figure out the money in their banks accounts and in their pockets was really worth nothing.

But things would keep going, just because there are a few greedy people out there does not mean they'll take over the world. They'll have very little power and be placed on an equal foot like most people. There still be people looking to protect other for no reason other then it's the right thing to do, so might even be ex-cops or ex-military, since they'll have no jobs.

I think the court system will be the biggest problem, if you count the jail system with it, that will be a lot of people with no place to go and no skill set that could be moved to another area. So they'll ether fight, steal or die maybe all of the above.

The utilities will keep on going in most areas, the managers and CEO of the company might be gone, but the field workers would keep them going just to keep them going for their families.

You would really see who does their job and takes pride in what they do and who does it just because it's a job and it pays the bills.

Like others have said, some group will come up to lead, whether it be better or worse than what you had before.

I think most will agree some sort of government is necessary. But the way it is run needs to change big time. The first thing is take away all the safety nets they have, as in...you dont get to be supreme court for life, you dont get 4 years no matter what, etc. Make it so the government is held accountable for their actions. The way it is now, they can do what they want without fear of repercussions. When terms are up, they act somewhat civilized and people forget to easy what they did 3 years earlier. If they thought they would be fired the first month of office because of bad choices, they would HAVE to do the right thing more often. The next thing is take away the ability of people in office to be so involved in business. Meaning the ex VP of any major company cant be in the position to change laws to benefit said corporation in any way, and cant become VP of some company after office they changed laws to bend the rules..

reply to post by seabag

Absolute freedom is anarchy;

No. A anarchy is often something that takes place when the people act against a tyranic government or a government they dont want. When the people take the law into their own hands and hunt down their tyrants. It is often called a state of anarchy.

We should not compare the state of anarchy to prevent ourselves from wanting absolute freedom. A state of anarchy is the way to go to demand freedom from being governed by a insitution. It is what the people do after a anarchy has taken place and the government is gone that really matters. If you want absolute freedom we should not ask for a government to make laws, when we know the moral values we are brone with. Moral values and laws are two different things.

Moral values dont prevent people from being free. If respected they prevent people for doing any harm/crimes.

If we dont repect our moral values. Then how would government laws make people repect the laws. The only way that can be done is by keeping track and guarding of all our movements.

I think the framers had it right in the original intent of the federal government but we've allowed it to expand beyond the scope of its responsibility.

Yes everything looks good in writing. And they warned us from wanting a democracy. But that is what we ended up with in the end. We end up with this because we really dont know how our government really works.

Our government seam like a democratic elected dictatorship. We elect our dictator and we call it democracy. Because we can vote.

The question is: how many times would it take before we learn that a government will never be as it was intended to be. When a government becomes to big and to powerfull. It will start to create its own laws. And that is when we will have the same old same old situation all over again. We will feel that we are being owned by our own elected government.

IF the federal government were to disappear over night:

I think the biggest problem that would happen the soonest would be money.

Think about all those pieces of paper (or 1's and 0's in a computer) that is "backed by the federal". They would become suddenly worthless (of course it's becoming like that anyway when you think about it).

We use the money we use because our federal government dictates that is what we use. You don't go to a bank with chickens under your arm, and you don't walk into Walmart to buy clothes with bottles of booze.

Suddenly everyone is broke, who does not have stashes of things that would still be considered precious (gold, silver, diamonds, etc).

I'm not worried about suddenly everyone is out commiting crimes, killing people and raping people. Law enforcement that most people deal with is on a local level, not federal. Federal government is gone, yet the sheriff's department is still there, the state troopers are still there, city police is still there.

However......how are they going to be paid now? Same goes for those fire fighters, they are on a local level......but again, how are they going to get paid? Volunteer fire fighters would still be there, but again, they need to purchase fuel to get to where the fire is at.

That I think would be the first big panic. Money. Never mind the fact that social welfare would disappear, it's the fact that what you were getting is now worthless anyways. Other nations would see this too. How are you going to do business with other countries if you no longer have a national government that backs their money?

Also, I've seen a lot of posts claiming that we all would be lawless right away. That would only happen if it wasn't just the federal government, but your state, county and city governments were gone too. If your local governments are still there, you're not suddenly living in a lawless place. Your just living in a place that is not federally backed anymore. Federal laws are gone, but your state, county and city laws are still there.

Last I looked, murder, rape, robbery, etc were not exclusive to federal laws. All the states in the US have laws against those crimes too.

However, it goes back to retaining your employees: how can you maintain a police force, fire fighters, etc, when you can't pay them?

Continue to use those pieces of paper? Without the federal government, there is no one to really enforce the use of those anymore. Businesses and banks can suddenly refuse them, saying that they have no value and there is no one to back the debt that those pieces of paper with famous presidents on them are suppose to back.

I think that would be were the real panic would be. A new type of money or bartering system would have to evolve, and that would take time, with most people worried to death about how they are going to pay for food, electricity, gas for their cars, etc.

reply to post by CirqueDeTruth

It would become the wild west.

No, much much worse. Even with the Wild West, there was still a federal government...it's reach was distant, but still present. In this scenario, it's more like the Dark Ages (but with technology)...where might makes right, and you'd see charismatic military leaders pooling assets together to form militia run city/states.

Not to mention, with the artificial fed economy gone, overnight, we're at a barter system, and a loot and pillage scenario.

reply to post by eriktheawful


Freedom will not come without a greate cost. It might not even happen after millions have died.
Freedom will not happen peacefully, not with the mentality of our current society. There is to much anger, ego and hate for it to happen peacefully.

We have been pulled so far away from freedom by our government that we fear the cost of being released from it. The government is our bigest problem. It is the product created by our government that we fear. The product is the system of laws that create a harsh mentality within our society. The government have created a monster we all fear will be released.

The UN would take over, the military would be put in place as peace keepers until a new government was put in place. All previous politics would be kept in place, same with the current laws and life would move on until the next elections. Well...That's in Canada anyways !!!