You can have minimal governments, and going in that direction often seems like the right choice. Like most people I would be happy to cut 50% of all government spending, the problem is we don't want to cut the same 50%.

Take the US government remove the Air-force and you still have a functional government. In fact, we would still have the largest and most powerful Air force due to the Navy. But, that does not mean the Air force is worthless or even that taken in it's entirety it's a waste of money. And a lot of people want the Airforce which in a democracy means a great deal.

The real question is not how you can make a smaller government, but how you can have a better society and those are not always the same thing.