Pillars

What are the things that make a country great? America thrives on the idea of individualism. What role should government play, if any?

I propose three pillars for government responsibility—security, law, and infrastructure.

Security includes protecting the country from invasion, crime, or terrorism. It could also include protecting the country from health, environmental, or economic crises.

Law includes establishing the principles by which actions will be judged and balancing the rights of individuals when they conflict with one another. It also includes establishing an environment in which people and businesses can better predict the results of their decisions and obtain a neutral judgment when they believe they are wronged.

Infrastructure is the roads, ports, power, communications, natural lands, water systems, and everything else in the physical world. Infrastructure may be publicly or privately owned, but even when it is privately owned, government may play an important regulatory role. Physical limitations tend to create monopolies in private infrastructure. In other words, the physical world often can’t accommodate more than one private road, power line, or gas line going to each house.

Government plays an important role in providing and managing these three pillars. Should the role of government be more expansive or more limited in these areas? Are there other pillars that are equally important for government involvement? How should government actively work to make the country great? Or should government just try to stay out of the way?