I know I may seem pessimistic, but I firmly believe that the natural tendency of mankind is to desire tyranny in exchange for supposed safety and security. It is actually fascinating to see so many people with so much potential piss away their freedoms because they want to protect the things they got while they were free. And as always, there is someone around who is more than willing to step and be their oppressor.
This has been the natural course of human history for a very long time. This kind of thing is even talked about in the Bible. Before Israel had a king to rule over them, they had what amounted to an anarchy. There was no central authority, except for the occasional prophet who God would raise up to smite their foreign enemies. But when Samuel came about, the nation of Israel decided they wanted to a king to rule over them. They did so because Samuel’s sons were misbehaving and they feared an oppressive rule under ungodly men. So instead of being ruled over the sons of a prophet of God, they wanted that prophet to chose a king for them.
Samuel was, of course, upset by all this. Sure the nation of Israel had its issues, like all nations, but things had worked fine for the most part. God would raise up judges in their time of need in order to settle affairs and lead armies when needed. Other than that, people were able to do as they pleased. Even though they had a very specific set of laws, there was no real enforcement of those laws and often times they were broken. Still, these laws were not all that oppressive and were more like regulations of courtesy and retribution for crimes against fellow men like rape, destruction of property, and murder. There were laws about dealing with diseases properly, what animals to eat, and the proper kinds of sexual intercourse as well which I suspect was God’s way of ensuring that the Jewish bloodline would only grow and prosper.
Anyway, when the elders of Israel demanded that Samuel anoint a king, this is what he told them in (1 Samuel 8:10-18):
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
You know, I read that passage and I think that maybe the Israelite elders would act in a manner that would preserve their own interests. Instead, they still insisted that Samuel place a king over them. So Samuel went out and anointed Saul, who turned out to be a grade A butthole. He looked kingly, as he stood a head taller than all the other Israelites, but he was a short tempered, paranoid murderer whose reign ended in suicide. There really did not seem to be much of a mourning when he passed away. Of course, David succeeded him as king and was a fine ruler overall, save for murdering a man in order to marry his wife. But God took care of that whole mess.
Anyway, I wish I could say that the David-type kings were the norm, but the Saul-type kings really were the normal course of business. Most of the kings of Israel were oppressive rulers who forced worship of false gods and did horrible things in the sight of god. In many cases, these men oppressed the people and had their children sacrificed to Molech.
But the prophet Samuel predicted all this long before any of it happened. He warned of the oppression that the people would suffer under a king. And still they did not listen, instead they wanted safety and security instead of freedom and the responsibility it entails.
In the end, that is all we can really expect of our fellow man. When it comes down to it, be it military might or financial stability, mankind will always look to the government to secure what they hold most valuable. It makes me sick.