[Good Government, Bad Government] A Good Government Does Not Discriminate

During his time in power, Hitler massacred 6 million Jews. As he used the Nazis to take away the lives and property of the Jews and distribute them, the German people were ecstatic. They believed that Jews were an inferior race and deserved such treatment.

Saddam Hussein, the ruler of Iraq, is known to have massacred 100,000 Kurds in 1988 on the grounds that they had sided with Iran. It would have been impossible without the tacit consent of the Iraqi people. The oppression and exploitation of political opponents carried out by those who seize power is an evil repeatedly committed by humanity countless times since the dawn of civilization.

Our own history is not much different. Taejo Wang Geon, who founded Goryeo, instructed in his deathbed testament, the Ten Injunctions, that people from south of the Geumgang River should not be appointed to government office. In Joseon under Yi Seong-gye, people from Hamgyeong Province were discriminated against, which eventually led to the Hong Gyeong-nae Rebellion. During the 36 years of colonial rule, Japan also discriminated against and exploited Koreans.

A government that divides the people into opposing camps, favors only some of them, and exploits the rest is never a good government. Government has a duty to protect the life and property of every single citizen. A government is even more admirable if it also protects the life and property of foreigners within its territory. Nations that enjoyed prosperity over long periods had such governments. One reason Rome was able to prosper for so long was that it granted the same citizenship as its own people even to those in the lands it had conquered.

That the government does not discriminate among citizens on the basis of origin, appearance, skin color, religion, or wealth is also a basic element of the rule of law. Government must make laws without discrimination and enforce those laws without discrimination. The fair way to treat the people is to punish anyone who breaks the law strictly, no matter who that person may be. Freedom can arise only in such an environment.

But eliminating discrimination does not mean making everyone the same. What each person achieves with the freedom given to them depends on their own effort, choices, and luck. Freedom has meaning only when each individual is made responsible for the results of his or her actions, whether success or failure. A government that takes from some in order to give to others is merely beginning another form of discrimination. Protecting the life and property of each individual citizen—that is the most important mission entrusted to government.

Original title: [좋은 정부, 나쁜 정부] 차별 없는 정부가 좋은 정부

Author: Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

Date: 2008-12-22

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=column&pn=17&idx=10727