This is why I wrote "we do need government, but we only need it for things the rest of society isn't going to do independently." I think we largely agree on th

This is why I wrote "we do need government, but we only need it for things the rest of society isn't going to do independently." I think we largely agree on the role of government and we only end up disagreeing on whether any one particular policy, enacted by the government, would really end up doing the 'greatest good for the greatest number' when weighed against the efficacy of the private sector / costs of the taxation to the taxpayers. Since I believe in many cases the government, while well-meaning, does more harm than good, I really don't see how expanding the government through additional taxes can be considered patriotic. If you think the government only rarely does more harm than good, I can see how you'd have the opposite opinion.