Civil society, taxes, & what we all need from government

Greetings, We are all in this world together, and we all benefit from other people's success, and we all lose when other people fail. This applies to the environment, as well as the economy. Government is necessary. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln: good government must do what the people cannot, or cannot do well. So, we need other people to succeed (too) in order for society as a whole to succeed; and we need government to do this -- and therefore, we must pay for the government to function. How to do this fairly is the question. In the end, it has to happen, and the best government is the kind that adjusts things to work better as time goes on. What we call this kind of government, really doesn't matter in the end. I love the quote from Winston Churchill: "I think democracy is the worst kind of government -- except for all the others."