I agree with your point that the role of government should be limited and that that is what it was designed to do. The law is intended to protect citizens against injustice but it is often used to exacerbate injustice against those people it was meant to protect. Through taxation, tariffs, state-funded social programs, etc., the law oversteps its bounds and imposes actions upon its subjects; the very opposite of freedom. This perversion of the law stems from a fundamental drive for power that individuals possess, especially when they find themselves with authority. If government was decentralized then this power would be far from absolute and the law could function as intended. This idea was summed up nicely in the essay:
“this tendency of government to overstep its bounds is rooted in the tendency of individuals to seek benefits at the expense of others. He argues that government officials are not immune to this temptation and that, without proper checks and balances, they will be prone to abuse their power. This leads to the rise of special interest groups and the concentration of power left to a few”
This idea that the few should rule the many is flawed. In a well-functioning society, the power should be left to the people and the government should be in place only to punish those who harm, or seek to harm, another person. There is a misconception that government is necessary for philanthropic programs that benefit the less fortunate. However, it is my belief that in a society free of legalized plunder, citizens would be more inclined to beneficence than in one with a powerful government. If that were truly the case, society would be better off for it because the less fortunate would be receiving comparable to better assistance, while the rest of the population is free from the tyranny of taxation and government interference. A truly free society would embrace competition in industry, as competition drives innovation. The real winner of this is the consumer, as product quality increases and price decreases. Although the “loser” of the competition may not be so happy, they can use their unused resources to develop another product. This sort of free market cycle provides a utilitarian good to the people that would be asinine to prevent. This sort of protectionism of industry serves to harm the consumer and in turn the entire economy. The less the government has its hands in our day to day lives, the better off and freer we will be.