[ThomasMore]

Clearly, Tolkien felt that good people needed little government.

Excellant post. Yes! Tolkien was a top of the line sort of chap. He held to principle known as virtues. You don't need hardly any government when people are like that.

[HairOfTheDog]

And people probably would always strive for virtue of their own accord, if virtue were valued and any sign of "outlandish" behavior roused suspicion and scorn, as it does in Hobbiton.

Somewhere in our own history we lost this idea, and our Shirrifs now must spend all of their time rounding up those who can't handle freedom responsibly, and have no time for rounding up wayward beasts.