Socialism in the US

You know how Baby Boomers are the ones who grew up during WWII and the Cold War? Well, let's just use the proper term for our government to mobilize them: socialist. Please see the definition of "social democracy" from Britannica.

OK, so that might be a little over-doing it. But the tendency toward big government is socialist. From the Britannica definition: "Social-democratic thought gradually came to regard state regulation (without state ownership) as sufficient to ensure economic growth and a fair distribution of income." Maybe I'm over-generalizing, but doesn't that mean that any "regulation" by the government is essentially socialism? Yes. You see, socialism is about government control.

Whenever a law is passed by the government, several things must happen. Funding has to be appropriated (higher taxes or appropriated from other programs), enforcement has to be arranged (enter FBI, FTC, FAA, NTSB, DHS, etc.), policies have to be set in place for how to perform enforcement. Then, there are the almost guaranteed activities, among which are legal interpretations by lawyers, lawsuits/arraignments and prosecutions to test the law in court. Oh, and did I forget to mention the lobbying that we paid for through consumer goods sold by special interests? All of this puts the government in control.

Government control means several things, such as laws about what we can do or say, only one way (the lawful way) is tolerated. But more importantly, laws would tell us what we should do, think and say. This is what truly scares me.

Let me break here from what I've been saying and make one thing very clear. I am not advocating radicalism of any sort. I am only expressing an opinion that is not in line with the mainstream political engine.

Why am I scared? Well, it's that I don't think this is a good direction for our country. I am also a private person. I don't believe that other people should make decisions for me, or that I should be compelled to do things that I don't agree with. Aren't these what we think of as the hallmarks of a totalitarian state?

What's the fix? I'm not sure about what it'll take to reverse many of the problems that we have created, but I'll tell you the one thing that will make the biggest difference: take responsibility for yourself and your own actions. Don't ask the government to make rules, don't ask them to fix your problems. Ask them NOT to [try]. Seriously, what have they really succeeded at fixing in the social arena?

Think about it.