Thus “society” was formed and grew more and more complex. Of course, I have only sketched the process in a very general way, but the idea is there. The one point we have to consider is that no one of these arrangements or institutions—the family, town and state—would be possible _unless_ every member gave up part of his original freedom _in return_ for help from others. A _bargain_ has to be made. For instance, the different men and their families each made a bargain with the whole number to give up part of their freedom, time and energy to the band. _In return_ each was to receive his share of the freedom, time and energy the others had given to the band or town. Each man made a _bargain_ with the town. He owed the town something: the town owed him something. That was the beginning of government, and that is the arrangement at the bottom of any government to this day. Every government (town, county, state or national) is just a bargain between the various individuals and all of them taken together. Each owes something to all: all owe something to each. The point is, in each case, is this bargain a _fair_ one? Does the individual give up more than he receives in _return_? In olden times the average individual did give up far more than he got in return. Often he didn’t get much besides protection against some other government. Yet for this he frequently had to give up _nearly all_ his freedom, time and energy. A few individuals gained control of the government and, though they might not contribute as much as the others, took most of what the others gave for the use of the whole number, calling themselves kings, or dukes or emperors. The mass of the people forgot that originally the “government” meant _all_ the people. They came to consider the few who had gained control of the government as _the government itself_. That is, they let themselves be cheated out of their share in it. Our Declaration of Independence was one of the things that resulted when, after centuries of misrule and suffering, the mass of the people began to wake up to the fact that they had been cheated all that time under a bargain which had originally been fair. They had been giving more than they got in return. In an absolutely fair government every individual would receive just as much as he gave and give just as much as he received. A modern government is so vast and so complex that it would be hard to measure each man’s share exactly, but the nearer any government comes to that, the better and fairer it is. England, for example, comes nearer to that ideal than does Russia; Russia nearer than Afghanistan. The chief trouble in Russia is that the mass of the people have to give more than they receive. A comparative few have gained possession of the government and each takes a very, very large share of what _all_ contribute, leaving almost no share at all for the majority.