What is the legitimate purpose of government?

The Declaration of Independence
reminds us that governments are instituted among men to secure
the rights of life, liberty and property. (Property was replaced with
“pursuit of happiness” in a last minute attempt to include abstract rights
such as falling in love.) Our right to life is based on the assumption that
each of us “owns” our own body, hence our body can be considered to be
property. Liberty is the power to utilize our property in any way we wish,
without requiring us to seek government approval. Ergo, the fundamental
reason for government is to assist us in protecting our property.To anyone
with a lick of sense, this concept is self-evident.
Easier said than done! In Federalist #51, James Madison observes that,
“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to
govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would
be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by
men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first
enable the government to control the governed; and in
the next place oblige it to control itself.”