I see the government as an entity that provides essential services that can't normally be profitable - like firefighting, law enforcement, and the maintenance of infrastructure. It also provides a sort of counter balance to the imbalance that is naturally generated when a few people gain a huge advantage in the free market - without a solid government taxing the wealthiest and balancing to scale to favor everybody, not just a privileged few I feel like we're just reverting to times we were trying to leave behind.