Socialism Isn’t About Roads, Parks, & Street Signs

Ever notice that whenever you complain about socialism and big government, someone pops up to say, “Oh, so you don’t like roads, school, and parks, eh? Why, I guess if you had your way the government wouldn’t do food safety inspections and we wouldn’t have a military.”

Um….no, stupid.

Those are the basics that ANY government would provide. Even most of the “Big L” Libertarians who would let drug dealers sell crack to school children and allow open borders probably wouldn’t be too upset about those things.

In fact, if all the government did was the basics, like defending the country, keeping law and order, building sewer systems, paving roads, and doing basic regulation, almost nobody would complain about taxes. That’s not just because taxes would be extremely low and the economy would be much stronger so most of us would have a lot more money, it’s because the American people overwhelmingly agree the government should do certain things.

The problem is that because the 10th Amendment has been tossed out the window, the federal government has moved on from some very limited, basic functions to sliding its slimy tentacles into every nook and cranny of people’s lives. The government has become a corrupt money-wasting, time-killing, ever-present nag that people can’t get away from.

Want to start your own business? The government needs to talk to you. Want to build a house? The governnment would like to have a conversation. Want to protest? Call the government for a permit. Want to opt out of Social Security and plan your own retirement? Sorry, the government says “no.” Want to just forget about all of this and read a book or watch TV? Better make sure it’s a government-approved lightbulb and TV. Think most of your tax dollars paid into the government are wasted? You’re right, but there’s nothing you can do about it other than cheat on your taxes and risk going to jail.

Like many productive Americans, I wish the government didn’t know I exist at all.

That being said, nothing would make me happier than to pay my equal share of the taxes for roads, parks, street signs, and the military, and then keep the rest. But, when you start asking me to pay for Bridges to Nowhere, loans to Solyndra, guns the DOJ is buying for Mexican crime lords, weapons for the Palestinians, and the salaries of the millions and millions of bureacrats who make more than the average American, that’s where I’d like to draw the line.

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