The purpose/function of government in a modern advanced rational society

 In a modern, advanced, rational society, the purpose/function of government is strictly limited to the protection of individual rights, which are moral principles defining and sanctioning man's freedom of action in a social context [1][2]. 

These rights, derived from the facts of reality and man's nature as a rational being who must think and act to survive, include the rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness; government exists solely as an agent to safeguard them against the initiation of physical force by others, whether domestic criminals, foreign invaders, or any form of coercion [3][4]. 

This means the government's proper functions are confined to three essentials: the police, to protect against internal threats; the military, to defend against external aggression; and objective courts, to resolve disputes and enforce contracts based on reason and evidence, without engaging in economic regulation, wealth redistribution, or any altruistic schemes that violate individual sovereignty [5]. 

Any expansion beyond this role turns government into a tool of statism, which is the politics of unreason, subordinating the individual to the collective and contradicting the requirements of human life in a rational society [6][2].

 Such a limited government upholds capitalism as the only moral social system, where men deal with one another as traders by voluntary consent, not as masters and slaves [1][4].

Sources

1 The Romantic Manifesto by Ayn Rand

2 Ominous Parallels by Leonard Peikoff

3 For the New Intellectual by Ayn Rand

4 Philosophy: Who Needs It by Ayn Rand

5 The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand

6 Logical Leap by David Harriman

In addition:

In a modern, advanced, rational society, the government's purpose/function is not to regulate the economy or dictate moral values, but to act as an objective enforcer of individual rights, ensuring that no one initiates physical force against others [1][3]. 

This limited role stems from the recognition that man's life requires freedom to think and act without coercion, with government serving as a delegated agent of self-defense, not a ruler over men's productive activities [2][4]. 

For instance, the police function protects citizens from criminals by objectively applying laws based on reason and evidence, without favoritism or arbitrary power [5]. 

Similarly, the military defends against foreign threats, but only in retaliation, never initiating aggression, as wars of conquest contradict the principle of individual sovereignty [6][3]. 

Courts, in turn, resolve disputes through rational adjudication, enforcing contracts and property rights that arise from voluntary trade, thereby fostering a capitalist system where wealth is created by productive effort rather than seized by force [1][2]. 

Any attempt to expand government into areas like welfare, education, or business controls represents statism, which subordinates the rational individual to the collective and leads to the destruction of civilization, as history demonstrates with regimes that reject reason for mysticism or altruism [4][5][6]. 

This framework ensures that society advances through the independent judgments of rational men, unhampered by the parasitism of looters or the emotionalism of those who resent achievement [1][3].

Sources

1 The Romantic Manifesto by Ayn Rand

2 Philosophy: Who Needs It by Ayn Rand

3 Ominous Parallels by Leonard Peikoff

4 For the New Intellectual by Ayn Rand

5 Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology by Ayn Rand

6 The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand