What is the point of saying something like this? Would you prefer that people just not bother to do anything and let poor people starve to death instead?

The "starve the beast" propaganda has been wildly successful and is seeded deep in American culture and psyche.

"Vote for me and I'll show you how bad I can make government" has been supremely effective, somehow

Republicans want to cut funding to programs, then point at how bad the underfunded program is doing, thus demanding more cuts. Either the result is the department is killed, or is on a shoestring budget and everyone hates them. Many were welcomed departments doing good works. People eventually tire of chronically underfunded gov depts, and vote the other side.

Democrats want more taxes, which inevitable come from middle class, not being able to get it from the poor or rich. Then they set laws in those programs as "means testing", where the poor get the benefits, and the middle class doesn't. The rich never needed it. The middle class tire of paying for everything and getting nothing, and vote the other side.

And, that pendulum swings back and forth.

And that's how we get this horrible ass-backward system we have. And going back to first principles and doing is right is "against the other side!".

It's important to deal with reality as it is. Perhaps government is not always the best way to prevent poor people from starving to death.

If we anticipate the private or nonprofit providers might perform poverty alleviation more optimally, we

(1) massively duplicate fixed costs for logistics

(2) ignore that a primary reason governments exist at all is to help prevent people from starving to death, despite it often being hijacked by powermongers

Just gotta say, that's a pretty extreme position to take.

The private charities that fill the gaps left open by government are another form of government, just not democratically elected.

(I realized I was contributing to that problem by donating to local charities.)

That won't change until there is wide enough demand to change it. Broad recognition will come long before the changes.