I would say your condemnation of "the government" is too broad-brush, and it fails to recognize the benefits the government can (and has) delivered: actions to ensure clean water and clean air (though certainly the GOP strongly opposes those government actions), safety requirements for automobiles (which repeatedly protect occupants in crashes), public health programs (when not undermined by the GOP), and so on.

You mention specifically that schools don't teach critical-thinking skills. That's certainly true in Republican-run states (the Texas GOP had in their platform that critical-thinking skills not be taught in school), but in many schools — even public schools — such skills are indeed taught, particularly in politically liberal districts where "Question Authority" is an acceptable idea. (Conservatives, on the contrary, teach "Respect Authority" and tend to view questioning as a challenge to authority if not downright disrespect.)

Your picture of government is a distortion, it seems to me.