Yes, I understand your position. I'm not convinced it's the correct view, but I understand it.

I'm just now finishing Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia. It's one of the best political philosophy books I've read. He makes a very compelling moral and philosophical argument in favor of the kind of government Frederic Bastiat described in "The Law" -- a minimalist government whose sole purpose is the collective defense of the individual rights of life, liberty, and property (to which Nozick adds contract enforcement).