Civil Fathers

Civil magistrates are fathers to their people. But what kind of fathers are they?

If the citizenry is irresponsible and undisciplined, he has to be a controlling father – usually some kind of tyrant, because they people cannot govern themselves. The citizens are like little children who need someone to do everything for them. Think of Joseph, who had to tax the people of Egypt exorbitantly because they could not be trusted to be future-oriented and make preparations for the famine to come. A childish, immature citizenry always results in some kind of socialist/welfare “nanny state” or some kind of Marxist state. The state has to grow ever larger, with more and more laws regulating more and more areas of life, in order to cover for the irresponsibility of the citizens. There is a negative feedback loop in this kind of system; by subsidizing irresponsibility, the society gets more and more irresponsibility, until finally there are more consumers than producers and society grinds to a halt. The citizenry becomes functional slaves, often without knowing it, of the state. This kind of magistrate is a curse – but usually a well-deserved curse.

By contrast, if the citizenry is capable of self-government, the magistrate can act like a father relating to grownup, responsible children. He can give them freedom because they can be trusted to take care of themselves; indeed, one of the main tasks of the fatherly magistrate in this kind of society is protecting the freedoms of the citizens. The people will plan for their own futures. The magistrate doesn’t have to control their lives or tax them heavily because they will take ownership of their own lives. The nation might not even have to have much of a standing army because the citizenry are prepared and willing to defend the nation as needed. The government can be small and the liberties large because the people handle most needs, even care of the poor, through private channels. Because personal responsibility is encouraged, families are strong and healthy, so the need for state services is minimal. With freedom, more people prosper. There is no fear of competition in the marketplace because everyone knows their hard work and ingenuity will be rewarded; people are encouraged to produce more than they consume. This kind of magistrate is a great blessing – and this kind of society is almost always prosperous.