I really liked this passage from Nobel-laureate Ronald Coase describing a difference in the way civil society and government hypothetically act -

If a federal program were established to give financial assistance to Boy Scouts to enable them to help old ladies cross busy intersections, we could be sure that not all the money would go to Boy Scouts, that some of those they helped would be neither old nor ladies, that part of the program would be devoted to preventing old ladies from crossing busy intersections, and that many of them would be killed because they would now cross at places where, unsupervised, they were at least permitted to cross."

It's important to note that "liberal vs. conservative" difference in Coase's ad absurdum example isn't about goals - ostensibly, both Boy Scouts and government do-gooders want little old ladies to be able to cross the street.   Instead, it's about processes. 

Unfortunately, too much political and social discourse is directed towards steering the government rudder with little credit given to these other organs of collective action.   And as a result, too many folks assume that not supporting the government process (be it in healthcare, poverty, minorities, or, little old ladies) is somehow tantamount to selfishly / evilly opposing the goal.