On many tasks, of course we have to ‘rely’ on government

Re “Public has been conditioned to always rely on government” (Nov. 2): Bryan Yingst’s letter commenting on federal food benefits stated that “in reality, government has no power to provide us with anything, it only has the power to restrict our ability to pursue better alternatives.”

While this is true in some respects, the government (federal, state, county, city) must provide certain things that individuals can’t provide for the good of the many — for example, courts, parks, roads, public schools, police and fire protection, libraries, food and drug safety, bridges, dams, sewers, aqueducts, banking protections and the military, to name a few. Without these necessary community and national benefits, we can’t provide adequately for the infrastructure needed to have a stable country.

— Avalee Cohen, La Jolla