There's a possibly apocryphal story as to how governments came about.  In the days when societies were just small nomadic tribes, there arose robber bands which swept across the land, plundering crops, livestock and even women from each tribe.  Over time, so many of these bands arose that tribes began to die out.  The parasites were killing their hosts.  This wouldn't do!  So, some warrior bands began to stay with a particularly productive tribe and exact a "duty" of, say, 10% of crops, tools, livestock, etc in return for "protecting" the tribe from robbers... like themselves!

It is said that these bands evolved into kings, their courts, and the knights and armies which enforced their rule... always at a cost to the productive citizens.  Royalty, in turn, gave rise to government.

Whether or not the above is strictly true, it certainly would explain the actions of governments, and certainly the mind-set of those in government.

While it's true that government provided a measure of law and order, it has grown ever bigger.  Those in it see the "rest of us" as mere "sheeple," there to be shorn of our peacefully earned bounty to satisfy their desire for ever more "booty."  Yes, "booty" in the old and the new meanings!

So, the question is, "Has government outgrown its usefulness and become too powerful to continue to grow?"  If so, is there a peaceful alternative which we should start to build?"

Governments have become powerful, and people in it so jealous of losing their grip.  The question   which then follows is:  "How dangerous would it be to start on this new path?"

Caution:  Reading the below is equivalent to taking the "Blue Pill" in the movie The Matrix.  Once you start to notice these things, you can never again automatically accept what "Authority" tells you.

Government as an early concept was beneficial.  However, given the weaknesses of human nature, it is being misused with more and more harm to its people.  About twelve times as many people have been killed by their own governments as have been killed by foreign enemy forces.  Post-WWII Soviet Union is one of the worst examples.  Stalin's people killed more Soviet citizens than did Hitler.  Our own government is walking down the same statist/fascist/socialist path, just more slowly.

When I refer to "country," I mean the land and people themselves.  The Purple Mountains' Majesty, Amber Waves of Grain, etc.  I differentiate that from a government, which sits atop those things, and the people, and taxes and controls them.  The "country" exists with or without the government.

A document which defines and controls a government.
A common fallacy in the U.S. is that the Bill of Rights grants us certain rights, such as free speech, freedom of religion, right to keep and bear arms, etc.  However, read the amendments themselves, as well as the Preamble to the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.  You will find that these writings assume
 that we are born with these rights.  The writings only prohibit government from infringing on them!  Did they teach you that in school?  I've heard several purportedly learned government figures and talk-show hosts totally misrepresent this concept.  They say that government has granted you these rights.  If so, it's easy to accept the notion that government can then legally take those rights away.  In government-speak, they actually say you forfeit these rights by some un-approved action.  See the problem?

1. The Collective is More Important than You Are.  Example: You are constantly harangued that "our school" is better than "their school."  Schools actually have rivalries, probably arbitrarily assigned.  "Pep Rallies" are more important than academic activities, which they pre-empt.  This continues through adulthood, where somehow "home" teams, which are just sports corporations, even get the benefit of tax-collected monie and government (taxpayer) guaranteed bonds to build stadia.  Thus, you are working part of the year to profit a sports team owner.  The extreme form of this is a military draft, where people are enslaved to defend government's forays beyond its borders... for its "interests."  Such interests are usually economic interests of groups which benefit hugely from the military action taken.

2. Government Equals the Country You Live In.  By implication and by news reporting, every supposed problem becomes a crisis, emergency or "war" on something.  From this, we can only be saved by government action.  Each such action costs us more in taxes and often means giving up more of our freedoms.  The freedoms we were born with, not dispensed by government.  More often than not, the problem (e.g. homelessness, pollution) is blown out of proportion, or has been exacerbated, even caused by government's action or dispensation of privilege.

3. You are only Safe as Long as Government Keeps You So.  Dispassionate review usually shows that whatever government and its media outlets are scaring you about are either nonexistent, not as bad as claimed, or even caused by governmental oppression.