Very much so. to p1. Government, like corporations, is about collecting resources for a greater effect for the contributors. The primary difference being that government is putatively not beholden to any individual contributors, and so is better able to handle collective goods (rather than handling them so long as there is profit in it).
Your example re prayer in schools is actually much more a matter of my suspicion of laws that try to mold society rather than avoid/prevent harm and free society to mold itself. In general, such attempts (these days, at least; in the old days they were far more overt about it) don't attempt to force everyone to pray the same way. But they try to mold society -- "this is a country that prays," rather than allowing people to pray or not as they choose based on their beliefs. And, of course, they often have negative secondary effects (eg, if the school is 95% protestant, anyone who behaves differently can get singled out).
Re Military...it would be nice if we could build a functioning global society with a police force, and no individual militaries (nice on some levels, anyway, but I did specify "functioning"). But we haven't--so we really do need a military.
Your example re prayer in schools is actually much more a matter of my suspicion of laws that try to mold society rather than avoid/prevent harm and free society to mold itself. In general, such attempts (these days, at least; in the old days they were far more overt about it) don't attempt to force everyone to pray the same way. But they try to mold society -- "this is a country that prays," rather than allowing people to pray or not as they choose based on their beliefs. And, of course, they often have negative secondary effects (eg, if the school is 95% protestant, anyone who behaves differently can get singled out).
Re Military...it would be nice if we could build a functioning global society with a police force, and no individual militaries (nice on some levels, anyway, but I did specify "functioning"). But we haven't--so we really do need a military.
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