What gave rise to this country is a violent, armed revolt against the previous rulers.
You don't need a government to protect your property. Not to mention Governments can't both claim to protect property and actively extort you for that property at the same time. No one consents to being taxed. Taxes are taken whether you agree or not.
Government provides rule of law. If you live in the U.S. and you believe this is true then it's probably a waste of time trying to convince you otherwise.
...if you live in Syria... you mean the place the U.S. has been actively encouraging war for the past few years... So fortunate we in our "first world country" can export death and destruction to the "third worlds" and then wonder why their society is in such chaos.
Of course the government provides law in the first world. I've never talked to an anarchist before, but if you can't admit that the state secures property and provides physical security through the threat of violence, while maintaining your argument, you have a shitty argument. If tomorrow there were absolutely no policemen in this country, we'd have chaos by lunchtime, and by chaos I mean increased murder, rape and looting. I tend to see the state and society as either the same thing or very closely related, in that if Eleven NorthKoreans were on one lifeboat and Eleven Brits or Americans were on a second lifeboat, I'd assume the second boat would be more likely to try democrassy to solve its disagreements.
@laconicflow: "If tomorrow there were absolutely no policemen in this country, we'd have chaos by lunchtime, and by chaos I mean increased murder, rape and looting."
Demonstrably false.
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/acapulco-police-strike-backfired/
@laconicflow What does too much government look like to someone like yourself who is pro-government?