What if the Government only did three things?

We are all human beings sharing this planet we call Earth. We share with one another certain physical needs: air, water, food, shelter, and medicine. In order to produce food, shelter, and medicine, we must make some impact on the planet. However, at the moment, we are causing catastrophic damage to the natural systems on which we depend, not to supply these basic necessities to everyone, but to give luxuries to a small minority.

Government, like any human organization, is problematic because people with power tend to want to accumulate more power. A direct democracy would seem to counter this tendency since it would distribute power over the entire population. The problem is that Government is such a complex organization it could never work efficiently, which is why we use the representative system. So, what if Government only did three things? First, give everyone free access to food, shelter and medicine. Second, protect the natural systems on which we are dependent. Third, impartially arbitrate conflicts between people, focusing on who has been harmed and what their needs are, rather than on punishment. If Government were this focused in its role, it seems to me direct democracy or something like it would actually be possible, and that the entire world could practice it. Also, if the Government fulfilled these three functions it seems to me that all other human action could be completely free. If everyone had access to their needs, had a just, flexible and reliable system for conflict resolution, and the environment were understood and cared for, there would be no need to regulate anything else.