People as Voters vs. People as Private Citizens

It seems to me that people act far differently as private individuals than they do as voters. While they would never, ever go to their neighbor and steal anything from them, they will turn around and vote for a law that allows the government to do just that with taxes. While we would personally never threaten to lock someone in our basement for using drugs or visiting (or being) a prostitute, we will vote for a law allowing others to do it for us. I think people are quite wise when they act in their own and their own family's self-interest, but act quite unwisely when they vote. Why do we feel comfortable voting to have someone else do something we find distasteful and uncomfortable to do ourselves? Shouldn't we have laws that reflect what we would ourselves be comfortable doing and enforcing? We would step in to stop a rape or a murder or a robbery or to let someone know they are being lied to -- but we wouldn't step in to do most of the other things government does.