A leftist who thinks the government is protecting him from high ATM fees, low wages, or dirty drinking water tends to feel indebted to the state and willing to take its side over liberty and the free market. A conservative who thinks the government is locking up hooligans and keeping undesirables out of society will likewise side with power over freedom in all too many cases. And anyone who believes that the government is the only barrier standing between the American Dream and the fall of civilization into the hands of fanatics, determined to convert us all to their religion and behead those of us who resist, will predictably give the government far more leeway than it deserves.

Anthony Gregory