"Perhaps the fact that we have seen millions voting themselves into complete dependence on a tyrant has made our generation understand that to choose one's government is not necessarily to secure freedom."
--Friedrich A. Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty, 1960

When Joseph P. Kennedy senior was considering what line of work his boys should get into, he didn’t steer them toward finance, the stock market, futures speculation or rum running. He sent them to law school and had them educated as preparation for a life in politics and government because he realized that was where the real money and power was and would continue to be.

As government has gotten more powerful, bloated and out of control, people have come to rely on it for most everything. For most people, any independent or entrepreneurial spirit that they once may have had has been discouraged by career politicians who convince us that government will take care of everything as long as we acquiesce to its demands.

It sometimes seems that we no longer have elected officials but a ruling class of entrenched career panderers who a majority of us have been forced to cede our freedoms to and eventually have had to decide to go along with.

asdf, Exactly right; and the more the intrusion, the more our economy disfunctions and supposedly the more we need the "check in the mail" types...It is a vicious cycle and they know it!