Governmet is not the country. Or so it used to be,

The US have always been a special place because the government did not pretend to be the country. Washington was just another mid-level city, less important than Detroit or San Diego. Nowadays it's changing. Washington is indeed becoming the center of the country. "The government is not 'small' or 'big' - it helps Americans or it does not". In other words, government's job is to help Americans. Wrong. Its job is to provide law enforcement, defense, some common infrastructure (the kind that cannot be made profitable), and may be help to those who absolutely can't help themselves - disabled and destitute elderly with no children, I guess. Americans are supposed to help themselves and to help each other. That how US became a great country.