Dream of the Flooded City.

I dreamed that I was on a high mesa overlooking a secluded desert city somewhere in the middle east. A river that ran by it* overflooded its banks and wiped the city out. As the city was rebuilt the property lines were re-drawn.

The Spirit Guide explained something to me. At first man is governed by himself, alone, his own resources to benefit himself. Then in the second stage man forms voluntary associations where he gives of his resources for the benefit of the group voluntarily. This is the best situation. Then a third where a government is formed that forces individuals to contribute to the group at the end of a gun.

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As usual, I claim no sort of inspiration. This is just a dream I had. I'm sure a zillion people have thought of the governance thing already. Or it's just a surfacing object from the giant garbage pile that is my subconscious.

*(on the southwest, there are mesa-like hills to the northeast and southwest. The river runs from the southeast to the northwest and out into a larger plain)

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From reader:
"Your dreams are telling you it's been too long since you read Mill's Second Treatise on Government if you didn't recognize the source."