Hence one needs the free market. The govt. typically lack the checks and balance that the free market automatically provides hence it _always_ results in bloat.
In the US the gov has become too big so that it cannot support a free market. ( there are some estimates that say 60% of our income goes into taxes of various forms). More over govt are the reason for a no freemarket. For me Govt is synonymous with the mafia, a more polished, legalized version ( yes, we differ here, so we can leave it at that)
>so any tinkering with it ought to be done carefully.
Most of the govt can be removed and no one will notice except govt employees.
We are taking common everyday interactions: small businesses, deals, trade, customer service etc. Americans by far ( and so would citizens of other first world nations) are relatively superior culturally when it comes to everyday interactions.
(Side note - the people who migrate from those 3rd world nations to America are generally a reliable, conscientious lot, way much more than people in their home countries)
In simple terms: how free do you think you would truly be to lead life the way you want if there were no institutions that produce and distribute electricity, manage communications networks, research and produce medicine, provide emergency services, build transportation infrastructure... something to think about. Few modern westerners would equate the idea of "freedom" with that of fully self-sufficient, isolated hermit life with everything that entails.
A lot of people today probably simply forgot how much of their cushy lifestyle was made possible by government, because they never had to work or fight to build it.