Jonathan Marks: In Praise of Conflict It's the responsibility of governments to protect and promote the common good. Industry will act in interest of its self and and so will people. Industry, government and people are capable good as much as they are capable of bad. We understand the importance of conflict within the public sector. We also understand the importance of conflict within the private sector. We often don't understand or consider the importance of conflict between the two sectors. Why is this. while something may seem positive for both the public and private sector it can often end up in them harming one another.