> Anything that involves the population at large can just be done by the population at large on their own accord.

This is where I'm going to exit this discussion: this statement (which is the fundamental assumption of every argument you've presented) is so exasperatingly naive that it would require disproportionate effort on my part to rebut it, and we're already very deep into a thread that I've feebly attempted twice now to get back on-track to the happiness question. And I'm honestly not that willing to put that much effort into an internet discussion just to teach someone why a democratic government would do something for the public good and why individuals / communities may not be able to achieve it "on their own accord". I don't have the patience, the expertise, the rhetoric, or the time. Have a nice day.