I believe everybody has the right to be left alone. Constitutional scholars claim that the right is implied in the 4th amendment, and applied to all Americans, via. the 14th amendment. I think it's a fundamental human right.

To quote Andrew Jackson:

So long as the individual trespasses upon none of the rights of others, or throws no obstacle in the way of their free and full exercise, government, law, public opinion even, must leave him free to take his own course.

Libertarians & Free Market

Many libertarians believe in the ultimate power of the market to make decisions for mankind. They falsely fall for the fallacy that all people have equal control of the market, and everybody makes sound decisions based on their choices.

That where government's role comes in. Government should have a limited, but activist role in the economy. They should ensure that corporations are held responsible for their actions, they should ensure that truthful and safe decisions are made in corporate boardrooms.

Corporations Are Different

Business is different from personal life. Corporations have far more resources and power then any one individual. The power to organize must have limits—to protect personal freedom.

For example, if a company monopolizes a business arena, then it takes away your freedom to choose how you want to spend your money. The government can ensure that does not happen. Corporates can define how you live your lifestyle, just like the evils of the government.

Corporations, unlike what some libertarians might say, do use the bullet of the gun to get their way. You either do what they say, or you lose your job (which in many cases leads to suicide, violence, or the alike). You break a corporate norm, and don't be surprised if their private security forces, with guns take you away. They work with goverment to put you in jail.

When corporations fail to pay for the externalities they create, they take away choice. Want to go swimming in the nearby creek? Too bad, it's polluted.

The business world isn't free, it's far from it.

Government is Evil Too

Government can be evil like corporations too. They can have too much of a heavy hand, they can take away personal rights if they want to. Their restrictions can reduce man kind to slaves, just like corporations can.

Government has a couple of things going for it, that corporations lack:

• Popular Mandate: People Vote Them Into Office Based on Beliefs Similar To Them
• Government Doesn't Have To Maximize Profits By Minimizing Human Costs

Taken together, those a very powerful factors. The general population votes in elected officals, only shareholders (who care solely about money) vote in corprate board members. Government does not have to minimize costs by minimizing human factors, instead they want the exact opposite—maximize human factors, while keeping costs down.

Government by mob is scary. The interests of the majority, often fail to reflect those of the minority. All too often, the majority imposes sanctions on the minority, that have little to no benefit on them, but drastically effect the minority.

Jefferson and the Republic

Thomas Jefferson and the Republicans (later to become the post-civil war Democratic party), opposed the growth of big business and cities, citing their negative effects on Democracy.

There is probably quite a bit of truth to how farmers ands mechanics (not today's farmers depended on corporate-agribusiness,though), have to be more independent and knowledgeable. They have to know and understand the laws of nature. They work in a cleaner, less polluted environment then any city—which gives people a much more positive feeling. They are more spread out, so they are less likely to infere with each other.

They opposed both government and big business, even after through the New Deal-era. The New Deal showed that the government could help people out, yet not take away their liberty. Abuses could be stopped. Today's Democrats realize the need to leash government in a sensible way, so it minimizes it's evil.

Help Me, Don't Hurt Me

Government can do so much good, but it can also do so much evil. It does a lot of both. Government helps educate the population, build our roads, protect our freedom and our and environment, and so much more.

Yet it does so much evil. It takes away people's civil liberties, it harasses people, puts them in jail for little non-important things, and so much more evil. It takes bribes from big business, effectively creating anti-average people legislation.