In the long run a government will
always encroach upon freedom to the extent to which it has the power to do so.
This is almost a natural law of politics, since, whatever the intentions of the
men who exercise political power, the sheer momentum of government leads to a
constant pressure upon the liberties of the citizen. But in many countries
society has responded by throwing up its own defenses in the shape of social
classes or organized corporations which, enjoying economic power and popular
support, have been able to set limits to the scope of action of the executive.
Such, for example, in England was the origin of all our liberties--won from
government by the stand first of the feudal nobility, then of churches and
political parties, and latterly of trade unions, commercial organizations, and
the societies for promoting various causes. Even in European lands which were
arbitrarily ruled, the powers of the monarchy, though absolute in theory, were
in their exercise. checked in a similar fashion. Indeed the fascist
dictatorships of today are the first truly tyrannical governments which western
Europe has known for centuries, and they have been rendered possible only
because on coming to power they destroyed all forms of social organization which
were in any way rivals to the state.
单选题
The main idea of this paragraph is best expressed as ______.