[Strangler Lewis]

Along the lines of Alex's post, I think the liberal and conservative trust/distrust of government are about equal, depending on what is being discussed. Both sides fear that the government will intrude on the particular freedoms that they hold dear. Both also trust the government to discharge certain goals that they value. For example, liberals trust the government to help the poor. Conservatives trust the government to demonize them and incarcerate them at alarming rates.

I believe both are correct. Private charitable activity could not come close to supplanting government welfare and food stamp programs that keep people from starving in the streets or turning to crime. By the same token, draconian sentencing laws and the prison industrial complex do a far better job at keeping the poor in their place than random acts of private violence ever could.