Actually, governments take after kingdoms and fiefdoms: "This is my land, if you want to live in it, you must pay a tax."
Eventually, they outgrew the greedy part and managed to put part of those taxes to good use, so that their people could have an easier life...
Romans built roads and aqueducts...
Middle ages European kings built... err... hmmm... more roads and bridges and a few aqueducts.... they also had their special way of holding a court of law.
Eventually they introduced policing the streets.
Nowadays, governments are responsible for roads, sewage, solid residues (trash), water supply, electricity supply, gas (the sort that heats water in your house, not the sort that power cars) supply, the economy, lawmaking and enforcing... not to mention that taxes must also sustain the people who control all these in a higher level... aka, the government, the politicians.
Human societies have had a hierarchical structure since way back... tribes and the like....
Religions also borrowed the hierarchy from such pre-existing structures... it was only sensible. Any large enough set of people needs to have a hierarchy of sorts, or else all hell breaks loose as, at least, one element starts taking advantage of everyone else's work and, pretty soon, everyone else copies him and things just stop.
Eventually, they outgrew the greedy part and managed to put part of those taxes to good use, so that their people could have an easier life...
Romans built roads and aqueducts...
Middle ages European kings built... err... hmmm... more roads and bridges and a few aqueducts.... they also had their special way of holding a court of law.
Eventually they introduced policing the streets.
Nowadays, governments are responsible for roads, sewage, solid residues (trash), water supply, electricity supply, gas (the sort that heats water in your house, not the sort that power cars) supply, the economy, lawmaking and enforcing... not to mention that taxes must also sustain the people who control all these in a higher level... aka, the government, the politicians.
Human societies have had a hierarchical structure since way back... tribes and the like....
Religions also borrowed the hierarchy from such pre-existing structures... it was only sensible. Any large enough set of people needs to have a hierarchy of sorts, or else all hell breaks loose as, at least, one element starts taking advantage of everyone else's work and, pretty soon, everyone else copies him and things just stop.
