The international community is watching with great concern and apprehension the formation of a new government. Governments rise and fall every day and have done so for centuries. The fate of a new Taliban government in Afghanistan, like a ghost rising from the ashes, remains vague and undefined. After 20 years of occupation by US forces — call it protection, collaboration, assistance — they were forced to flee suddenly, overwhelmed by the power of the Taliban. Now a big question remains. Do the Afghani people want a Taliban government? Are we to watch more gruesome images in Kabul as we have previously seen in Kandahar, or will Afghanistan find peace at last under a new government? It remains to be seen, and the eyes of the world are watching carefully. Why do we need a government at all? Can we not as citizens run our business without this fearful, often corrupt organisation we call government? The answer is a resounding no. We the people, since our earliest days invented government — because we needed it. Governments evolved as protection was needed, if people stayed together in groups, and agreed that some of the group will have more power to help maintain order. What often escapes us is that we the people make the rules that our governments help us maintain. Humans can be selfish, greedy, deceptive, so we make rules to abide by, even if that means giving up a few of our rights for the general good. What would life be in a world without rules? Societies would rapidly deteriorate. Abiding by the rules is an instinct of self- preservation. We make rules for everything, imitating our very bodies that follow biological rules that keep us healthy and alive. So it is with a tribe, a group, a culture, a society, a country. It seems almost a human instinct and scientists are working to confirm it. We make rules for every aspect of our lives, sports, courtship, games, appearance, dress, eating, queuing, writing, walking, even for saying please and thank you. By age three a child can be taught the rules of a game. Experiments show that when a hand-puppet violates the rules, the children object and attempt to teach it. Scientists believe that although animals have patterns of behavior, wired in their genes for generations, such as courtship dances, rules however are unique to man. That would explain our special ability to latch on to rules. They seem hardwired in our DNA and despite protesters and rebels we enforce them without question. They are crucial to the success of our species. Is that how governments started? To enforce those rules and punish those who do not respect them? Whatever the reasons, governments evolved as people discovered they needed protection and a body to enforce those rules. What is government, anyway? It is described as a system, or group of people, governing a certain community. Even small bands of hunters pre-dating agrarian societies, governing existed in groups of 50-100. Tribalism was a face-to-face discussions, settling conflicts and agreeing on rules. Like many facets of life the first forms of big government emerged when civilisation first began. They were not much different from earlier ones, but with the growth of populations, so grew the power of governments. History records that government practices have survived for thousands of years. The first recorded governments date as far back as Sumer (Mesopotamia, c 4500 BC) followed by Egypt and Harrapan (Indus Valley, now several countries, c 3300 BC). China, Greece, ancient Rome, and Japan round up the first seven governments in history. Ancient Egypt gets special credit for having the most well-known, thoroughly documented government out of all ancient civilisations. The growth of government almost always ends abuse of power causing the destruction of freedom, justice, and equality. It is baffling that the very body elected by the people to care for the people, ends up by oppressing, deceiving and robbing the people — especially of their rights. Needless to say this is not good government. There are three types of governments: democracy, monarchy and dictatorship. Under their umbrella are 10 forms of governments: democracy, communism, socialism, oligarchy, aristocracy, monarchy, theocracy, and colonialism. Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others, said Winston Churchill, and he should know. His country has fought or colonised "all the others". Still democracy remains elusive, for there is no perfect example to follow. Monarchies are democracies, so claim communisms, socialisms among others. However you wish to define a form of government, once it becomes destructive or abusive to the rights of the people, it is the right of the people who elected it to remove it. It is not just a right "it is their duty to throw off such a government and to provide new grounds for their future security." Fortunately, Egypt has been one of the few, if not the only country to have overthrown a government in power because of its corruption. The people fought for their liberties and rejected a band of despots called the Muslim Brotherhood, though they had no relation with the religion they claimed to embrace. Governments should be totally divorced from individual religious practice. Religion has been a shield for despots throughout history. Yet, the very essence of religion is the love for God's creatures. "When government fears the people there is liberty, when the people fear the government there is tyranny." Thomas Jefferson (1743-1846) *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 September, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
