Principles of Good Goverment (Pt. 3)
Family as The Fundamental Unit of Society
Of all the principles of good government, this one is to me the most fundamental and important. If the family is failing eventually even the best government will fail. Strong families and strong marriages provide the bedrock upon which a prosperous and happy free society can exist.
The family and home play a fundamental role in a free society of preparing the next generation to bear the burden of freedom. The home is the best forum for children to learn ethics and values that sustain a free society. Government cannot take the place of a parent. It’s role is to first do no harm to the role of parents and the institution of marriage and second supplement the efforts of parents only when absolutely necessary.
The economic cost of failing families is well documented. Drug use rates go up, abuse goes up, graduation rates go down, personal economic prosperity lags, crime rates increase, and the list goes on. Goverment cannot develop enough programs to “fix” these problems and history shows that goverment fails miserably in the parenting role.
I believe we should implement a family impact statement to be used on every piece of legislation, a litmus test of sorts. If the legislation does not pass with at least a “does no harm” minimum, then it does not move forward in the legislature.
