Can society exist without the government? Or, rather, can society thrive without good governance? It is difficult to answer the former as society has grown bigger and more complex but the answer to the latter is a straightforward negative. Thomas Paine, the English-born American philosopher and political theorist in his internationally acclaimed piece ‘Common Sense’ wrote, “Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.” It was written in 1776 but is still found to be as persuasive in 2022 as it was almost 250 years ago, still commanding the same intellectual consideration though times have changed. According to him, “Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices.” To him, society is a ‘patron’ while the government is a ‘punisher’. He argues that “our calamity is heightened” when we are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government. Paine’s argument is premised on this – A government would be unnecessary if people acted ethically and promoted the values of honesty and integrity. However, since people are unethical, a government is necessary so as to offer protection to people and their property. Thus, the government is a ‘necessary evil.’
The notion here is that when a society grows and becomes more complex, there arises the need for a system of governance. But when that government becomes corrupt, the members of the society suffer as if there was no governance at all. In the Naga parlance, the term ‘without government’ can be referred to as misgovernance or lack of good governance. It is like saying Nagaland, as a state, needs to have a government but the government is incapable of delivering good governance, or there is rampant misgovernance, and, therefore, Naga people are suffering as if there was no governance or the state is without government. If we were to list down all the symptoms of misgovernance in Nagaland today, we can easily see that there is not even a semblance of good governance at all. The pathetic condition of our roads, the growing divide between the haves and have nots, backdoor appointments, to name a few, all point to lack of good governance. We have now come to a point where we cannot live without governance, while, at the same time, we have a government that is leaving the society as if it were without government. Surely, the government has become a necessary evil.
When we have lost all ethics and the values of honesty and integrity, it is only natural that the government becomes a necessary evil. The people in the government fail to do the right thing, there is no justice and governance is reduced to a mere business of profiteering at the cost of the governed. The saddest part of government being reduced to a necessary evil is that moral, upright and ethical people admonish the idea of participating in governance because it is perceived as evil. Thence, society pays the price.