The main responsibility of government is to provide for the safety and security of its citizens and its land, defined by its borders. All the other things that government does at all levels (metropolitan, county, state, and federal) should directly or indirectly support this primary responsibility, generally through laws and regulations that establish and maintain law and order.
The voters elect these government officials to do this for us. If elected officials do any harm to the middle class, aka, society, aka the primary citizens making up the nation, then they should be replaced (voted out of office).
Another reason for voting for another candidate is if the elected officials enrich themselves, their friends and family and did little for your vote to move the community, state, or nation forward, and improving the standard of living for the country.
Here’s an example of how it should protect us.
Scenario – early years in any wild land.
A man finds a mate and raises a family. He builds an abode, raises fruits and vegetables, and some livestock. A few miles from his place, another similar family was established, only 20 years earlier and that family is 5 times larger.
By happenstance, the larger family has contact with the smaller family and decides they want the smaller family’s crops, livestock and abode, so they take. How they take is not important. What is important, is they took the smaller family’s possessions. There was no recourse for the smaller family. This is chaos. No one is safe if a larger or stronger entity wants what you have.
Multiply this by thousands of families being taken over. This is similar to the feudal system in ancient China. The stronger absorbed the weak.
So, at some point, the majority of the families decided to form a government to protect them and their property. For this, we pay taxes and expect safety and security.
It seems like today, that metropolitan, state, and federal governments are not enforcing their prime responsibility, and following the Constitution. Law and order, safety and security, and the environment for its citizens right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (personal freedoms) is the sole goal of government.
We depend on Police, Sheriffs, Border Patrol, ICE, Military, National Guard, and the FBI to provide that safety, security and protection against bad actors in our stead.
Your thoughts are appreciated..
Reference: The Importance of Government Explained (thoughtco.com)
Lots of good related reading at this site!