What is the Purpose of Government?

The U.S. Declaration of Independence states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

So the purpose of Government is to secure our God given rights and not to take care of us or give us things. In practice this means providing legal protection to the individual from those that would take their life, liberty and property away, be they foreign Governments or local thugs. Basically this comes down to setting the rules so that people can live passably with each other.

The problem is that Government has a tendency to grow and when it gets to big the Government becomes the thugs people need protection from. In the U.S. today we are at that point where Governments at levels local, state, and Federal is becoming biggest threat to the life, liberty and property of the American people.