by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: August 28, 2009   Last Updated: August 29, 2009

There are conditions where democracies not only tolerate, but demand enormous government control.

When it comes to matters of public safety, product safety, and drug safety, the reasons for a national agency with powers of strict control and oversight are quite apparent. When a product has the capacity to kill or seriously injure millions, no other agency of our society is equipped to stop it's distribution, investigate the matter objectively and thoroughly, or to determine whether the product needs to be banned. Civil action and localized criminal action is not sufficient to deal with any criminal charges when there is a major nationwide impact of a major unsafe product event.

When it comes to military, massive disaster response, and worldwide strategic matters, it is obvious that the government must have all of the control. There are no private or commercial enterprises that can take on the public trust when it comes to managing our military or carrying out our strategic interests throughout the world. In the event of major disasters, the events of Hurricane Katrina demonstrated what happens when the government abdicates it's responsibilities and does not control the response to catastrophic events .

When projects are of such enormous cost that they cannot be funded or executed by private, for profit concerns, then the taxpayer must fund and carry out the projects. When the taxpayers fund entire projects, then the government must maintain the entire control over the project to insure that the best, not the most profit oriented decisions and activities are involved. The Super-fund cleanup program is an example of projects that are so massive in financial and other scope, that private enterprise cannot fund the projects. The government controls the research, technology, and development until the program and it's technology can be sold and the funds are recovered.

In the area of gun control, the constitution provides the right to bear arms. The constitution also provides for a justice system that can order arrest, trial, sentencing, and even execution for those who criminally abuse their gun ownership rights. The government already exerts enormous control over gun ownership. From the Federal Lawmaker to the local police officer, the presence of government control is very visible.

But the controversies over government control will be as endless as the complicated social, political, moral, religious and legal dilemmas that new technologies create.

As we head forward into exponential advances in the sciences and in technology as well as the migrations of people, religions and cultures from around the world, we will have to re-visit this question again and again.

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