That is incredibly simplistic....but typical of the binary thought process. Everything is good or bad.
For consumer goods sure that is true. The govt can't buy your car for you.
For roads, first responders, education, national defense, consumer protection, environmental protection...etc...it is wrong. You are not going to build a road to your office...or pay the Fire Department only if they come to YOUR house to put out a fire or drag you to the hospital.
Well, I could let you in on a secret and tell you that there are many areas nationwide that have private ambulance services and you pay for it, but that would be obfuscation to the rest of your point and I want to give you your point.
You're saying that there is a reason for government, and you are correct. Roads are called for, national defense is called for, protecting one state from hurting another state through environmental damage such as polluting a river that goes through downstream states - all of these things require federal government. Education should be up to local government.
None of this, however, differs from the larger point.
The larger point is that these are the ONLY types of things that government is good for. There are good reasons for government, and even better reasons for limited government. For example, unshackle the marketplace for health insurance, and the competition that will form is likely to provide less expensive and better health insurance. If people want solar panels on their homes, they will buy it to the point that industry will invest in the R&D and make it worth people's while - no need for government intervention beyond helping the initial R&D in "the useful sciences" per the Constitution.
So, TJ, you're trying to argue and yet you're making the point for a very limited government - which is the point of Mr. Reagan's quote.
