> If you believe in individual freedom at all, then it should be held that the collective force (government) can have no more power than that of an individual, and the government does not have the legitimate authority to grant powers and privileges to one individual (police, fire etc) that are not granted to all individuals.

That does not follow.

What you're basically saying is that you're an anarchist. That's a perfectly legitimate position to take - hell, I'm all in favor of anarchism as a personal philosophy - but it's not a terribly practical method of organizing and running a large society, and if you don't believe in the social contract you're not going to have much common ground with most people.