With what seems to be increasing frequency, I find negative references to Big Government: "Big Government is the source of our problems." "It is something to be eliminated."

I am sure it would be simpler to live in a world without Big Government, where every man could stake out his own turf on the prairie, unencumbered by bureaucrats and welfare cheats. Life would be worth living. But there are more of us than ever, and our capacity to alter our surroundings has grown exponentially.

You can't do whatever you please. A corporate person may be satisfied to pile arsenic-laden tailings from his mining operation, build giant lagoons of animal waste from his concentrated animal-feeding operation, or invite a fellow corporate person to engage in water-intensive natural-gas extraction on his property. The resulting water pollution would impact people somewhere else on the prairie.

The interests and rights of two free people often create the need for some form of arbitration. This is one role bestowed upon government. Government makes rules and interprets and enforces them. The extent to which these tasks are fulfilled can be debated. We are human. We possess flaws, and so too must our creations. This doesn't change the central point.

Someone needs to verify the integrity of the seals surrounding the animal-waste lagoons. Someone needs to police the amount of E. coli in our burgers and heavy metals in our toys, because the truth is, some people don't play by the rules.

Consider that doing away with Big Government may be a euphemism for granting the stronger corporate people license to run roughshod over real people. Consider that it is impossible to withdraw into a private prairie paradise, and try to engage in something constructive.

EVAN KASTNER, ROCHESTER