Rita Hammer, chapter 4, question 5

In chapter 4, the overall topic was about how much weight the government should have in a society. People across he globe have completely opposite views as to what level of power the government should have in order to be successful. Many societies in history have repeatedly failed due to the governments power. When the government has full control as to how all money is distributed, people end up suffering from extreme poverty; however,  the market wouldn't even exist if government was eliminated completely, and chaos would be the norm. Wheelan says, "government creates and sustains the legal framework that makes markets possible.....thus, the notion that smaller government is always better government is simply wrong." Overall, the two ends of the spectrum (powerful government vs. weak government) have both proved to have extreme faults thoughout history. Being controlled by any so person or group is undesirable; however, perhaps it is in our best interest to have a balance between being controlled and having complete freedom, in order to obtain a healthy society.