…is predicated on the assumption that you are unable, fundamentally (as in, as a function of your nature as a human individual) to manage it yourself. In other words, government exists to protect man from his intrinsically fallen nature; without the state, man is at the mercy of his root vice and irresistible lust for all things evil (how “evil” is defined is ultimately up to the government, conveniently) eventually leading to a dystopia, then an apocalypse which will drive mankind extinct. Man’s capacity for reason and cooperation is no match for the depraved nature which forms the core of his being.

Government, in short, exists to save man from himself. Now, how the ruling class obtains special dispensation from its own fallen nature—they are human beings, after all—is really just a matter of mysticism, once you remove all of the cluttering doublespeak about “leadership” and “public service” and “free elections” and whatnot. Ultimately it boils down to this: the philosopher kings are granted their political authority (the “legitimacy’ of coercive violent force) by divine decree, given by God, or gods, or even the “laws” of nature, or evolution (e.g. genetic gifted-ness), the “laws” of social science, etc. etc. or a combination of these kinds of things.

There is much more to say about this, but with respect to government risk management, this about sums up the relationship between ruler and ruled.

To wrap it up, the managing of your risk by the philosopher kings of the state inevitably becomes the dictating to you what actually constitutes risk, to what degree something is or is not a risk, what risks are worth the risk, and what risks you will or will not assume whether you like it or not.

Risk management is behavior management, is life management, is the death of the individual, is the death of mankind. Ironic.