Each individual has many inalienable rights. For example, I have the right to defend my person and my property. If I wanted to I could stand guard over my property 24 hours a day. Because I have that right, I can choose to delegate that authority of defense to another. This is how we get police departments. So the police represent an example of good government, because they operate using authority delegated to them by people, who had that right themselves, but chose to delegate it to another.
However, ask yourself this question. Do I as a person have the right to take from my rich neighbor and give to a poor neighbor because I feel bad for the poor neighbor? No, of course I do not have this right! This means that I cannot delegate this right to the government no matter how badly I feel for the poor. People can voluntarily help all they want, but we cannot use government to force what we ourselves have no authority to do.
So here is a general principle for you. Take any proposed or actual government program or power and ask yourself this: If there were only two people in the world do you have the right to force your neighbor to do what the proposed power or program will do? For example, do you have the right to force your neighbor to have a fence around their pool? If you don’t have that authority, then you cannot legitimately delegate that authority to the government.
This is a great way to evaluate what government should and should not be doing.
