Thoughts from American Heritage: The Problem of Evil in Government

Once upon a time there were two little boys, fighting over who would get the last piece of cake.  Their Mom hears the arguing and comes in to try and solve the problem.  Instead of cutting the cake herself, she wants her kids to learn to govern themselves and get along.  So how could she solve this problem?  How could she empower the boys to solve it amongst themselves, and ensure that the result is equitable for both boys?

This is the problem we face in government.  How do we control the often conflicting self-interest we all have, and channel our energies into working towards a common good "with Liberty and Justice for all"?

Plato (left) and Aristotle (right).

Plato and Aristotle had differing approaches to solving this problem.  Plato's thinking was that if the citizens of a democracy individually strived for virtue and excellence, they would naturally be good citizens, and willing to abide by law.  They would not do anything selfish to endanger the larger public, Plato proposed.  His plan for self-governance was based largely on the inherent virtue of the citizens themselves.

In other words, Plato's solution to the cake problem would be to trust that the little boys would be fair and divide the piece of cake evenly between themselves.  Now I don't have any kids, but I have a suspicion that such an approach probably would end with one of the boys crying.

Aristotle, Plato's pupil, favored a different approach.  He believed that government could be structured, with 'checks and balances' as we now call them, to make cooperation and equitable outcomes in everyone's self-interest.  He might solve the solution by giving one boy the knife to cut the piece with, but letting the other boy be the first to choose which half he wants.  Such an arrangement makes it in the first boy's self-interest to cut the cake as evenly as possible, because he doesn't want to shortchange himself.

On the other hand, the arguing boys would've been given a knife.

To say that all issues in government are as quaint as dividing a piece of cake would be utterly simplistic of me, and untrue.  But the challenge is real in many cases: how do we keep self-interest out and ensure justice and equity among ourselves?

I believe that successful self-government—of cities, nations, and the world—depends more on people's virtue than on whatever checks or balances we can devise and put into place.  We've all seen how corruption and inequity can still result in a system with checks and balances a plenty.  They are important, to be sure, but we've seen throughout history that negative human nature can work it's way into any system of government.  A good illustration of this can be seen in comparing the Law of Moses and the Law of the Gospel, or the higher law, as it taught in the Sermon on the Mount.

In consequence of their disobedience, the original children of Israel, after being delivered from Egypt, were given what we call the Law of Moses—a very structured, intricate set of laws and ordinances to keep them spiritually and temporally on track.  On nearly every subject imaginable, laws were given or added later on by rabbis.  The Jews continued to practice and expand upon that law until the time Christ came, by which time corruption, greed, and other negative aspects of human nature had worked their way into a divinely given system of law.

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount proclaimed a higher, more virtuous life.  Conspicuously, He did not set forth a new systematized legislation, give detailed new laws, or teach how best to fulfill the old laws that were given.  He merely encouraged His followers to lead virtuous lives, care for one another, and be their best selves.  It seems to me that his emphasis on virtue, rather than structure or laws, indicates that the first and most important challenge in government, was and is to be virtuous above all else.

Systems of government vary across the world, each with their own unique challenges and benefits.  No matter what system or method of government is in place, corruption and human nature can always make inroads unless pre-emptively dethroned in each individual, which comes through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and by practicing virtue in our own lives.