I'm thinking specifically of the Little Rock Nine in 1957 where President Eisenhower took charge of the national guard so that nine Black students could attend high school. The government isn't one monolithic entity. It's a bunch of people doing different stuff, and some of them suck, and some of them are awesome.
Ok but when you said "There was a past American government that was strong enough to stamp out inequality" you did not make that distinction. The US government in 50s and 60s was not responsible for giving you civil rights, it was popular movements.
Yes. We can go into a whole history lesson and you can call me naive some more if it makes you feel bigger but doesn't seem like fun. To go back to my original point, a strong American government is a good thing in the places where it can do good, and is a bad thing in places where it will do bad. I would like the government to step in a build more housing, for example. A weak government can't do that. The market's failed to do that for all sorts of reasons.
