A Civics Catechism - Lesson First

A Civics Catechism – Lesson First

Question: What is civilization and why have it?

Answer:

Civilization is the organization of human beings into 

artificial groups for the purpose of eliminating internal and 

external predation. Today we have nothing to fear from 

the animal kingdom killing and eating us. Living outside 

the footprint of civilization, for example in the Alaskan 

bush, continues to provide such risks.

Here in Iron County our predators today are local 

governments subjecting us to economic destruction; 

sometimes they nickle and dime us, sometimes a heavier 

hand is evident such as in charging $870 a year for 

municipal utilities we cannot use, or overcharging $10 

for a few pages of a court docket. Such economic 

predation has no legitimacy.

Our governments have been around so long they think 

they are like people, especially here in Michigan. They 

forget their reason for existing, to provide safety and 

services for every citizen as a servant of the people, 

not as an organism on equal footing with human beings. 

Government is artificial, it has no life of its own! Our 

laws are designed to have governments work for us, 

not the other way around.

Michigan is worthy of mention because there is 

absolutely no oversight or control of local governments 

by those who give them limited powers, the state. We 

have to look no further than Detroit to see a worse 

case example. Or how about 13 local governments 

serving, on average, less than 1000 souls each in Iron 

County. Why two school districts, just to make a few 

jobs at the expense of providing the best education 

possible?

The model for what our governments are supposed 

to be is completely defined in our constitutions and laws. 

We must not permit failed civilizations, like Putin and 

the Ukraine, to detract from the high standards we 

have established. But sadly we haven't been living up 

to those standards.

Bill Vajk