I think it was Thomas Paine who made the distinction between ‘society’ and ‘government’. We may have a duty to society to act for the public good, but it is not government’s role to enforce that good. When governments do so they become authoritarian. It is the ‘American Way’ to oppose authoritarianism in all its forms. Socialism and communism in all its forms equate society with government, and all social good should be controlled and mandated by the government. This leads to authoritarian governments of all forms. In order to check government power and control we must always ask not if it is a public good, but should the government be given the power over it? Worse still is when a majority of people use the government to impose their will over a minority. This is one of the basic arguments against giving the government total authority over society.