&gt; Taken a step further, the primary relationship of a government to its people is the threat of violence for not following the laws.<p>This is true in pretty much the same sense that it is true that the primary relationship of a people to its government is the threat of violence by the former against the latter for failure to deliver on demands. (The extent to which <i>either</i> is actually truly the primary relationship in practice is pretty much precisely the extent to which the government has lost legitimacy.)<p>&gt; Free market thinkers challenge the assumption that government should be granted a monopoly on force but rather there should be competition in all areas of society.<p>The government is simply whatever entity (including a collection of entities) <i>in practice</i> holds a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. You can question what the nature, scope, composition, and role of government should be, but questioning whether it should have a monopoly on the legitimate use of force is exactly like questioning the assumption that a triangle should be a three-sided polygon.