Ok, Cara let me think this through now that the foundation of the conversation is set.
I believe the Purpose of Government is to...
1. Protect the Citizens of the nation.
This means Miltiary Defense, Law Enforcement, Protections like those provided to us by the FDA, EPA, Center for Disease Control, just to name a few. Protection from physcial threat to the health and safety of the citizens.
2. Provide Equal Justice under the Law, or as equal as is fesiably possible.
3. Provide the Services necessary for the society to function. These include services like providing Water treatment, Waste removal, maintenance of roads, bridges and other infrastructure, fire protection, police, EMS and much more. These are mostly the responibility of State and Local government more than the federal government.
4. Provide for the continuous Education of the citizenry.
Government must educate not only its youth, but should continually invest in the education of all citizens. Education does not stop after high school or even college. Education is a lifelong process. We might do much better as a nation to invest in the education of our citizens from birth to death, or at least retirement. There is so much we could do as nation if we made lifelong education a national priority. We have so much potential as Americans, but so rarely do we tap into our full potential.
5. Provide Equal Human and Civics Rights to ALL Citizens, NO Exceptions or Preconditions. If you are a U.S. Citizen you have these rights no matter who you are, what your heritage is or what you believe in.
6. Provide Equal Access to Opportunities for Education, Employment, Healthcare, Home Ownership and more. Equal Opportunity to all these things and more should be a nation right of citizenship.
7. Long Term Investments in the future. Government should engage in long-term planning and investment in the future. An example would be having a 10 year investment to rebuild schools that are more than 40 years old or a 10 year plan to repair and replace all the bridges in the country. As it is everything in government is budgeted in 1 to 2 year cycles, because all the members of the House of Representatives is up for reelection every two years. So, everything is done in two year cycles or less. Unfortunately, many of the problems we face need long-term planning and investment of 5, 10 or 20 years. People make long-term investments when they buy a car or a house. May things we need government to do requires the same type of long-term investment like buying a house.
These are my initial thoughts. I will probably think of others.