Opinions

This is going to be a bit meta today.I know that I have some strong opinions. On a walk over the weekend I got to thinking about why I think like I do.I'm pretty sure most of it came from my parents. Not as gospel handed down, but rather as stories of them growing up in communist Hungary and Romania. This all happened well before the wall came down; it was the bad old days.Behind the iron curtain was the utopian experiment called socialism. All for one and one for all. To everyone by their needs, from everyone by their abilities. This sounds great on paper: people, as a mass entity are better off that way.The experiment was an unmitigated failure. People are still paying the price to this day.I think this is why I have more than a streak of self-reliance and individuality that I have. It's also where I get a mistrust of the government that "knows better" about what I need and want. The government in the bad old days did the same thing: they knew what you needed, or rather they told you what you wanted and gave you enough to barely survive. Of course some folks got a bit more than their share.Government can't solve your problems. Sure, it needs to exist; we can't really live in anarchy. But the notion of relying on anything you can't control for your well being is nothing but foolishness. You can't control the government, but it has a tendency of wanting to control you -- as much control as you happen to cede to it.That is why I don't like to give up control of anything I don't have to the government. Let it grease the wheels of commerce in ways I can't. Let it provide a national defense. Ensure that we are living like the civilized country that we are. Make sure there exists a level playing field for the participants of life -- don't try to force people to be "equal," but rather apply all the rules equally. Once that is done, get out of the way.The idea that the government has an obligation to help you the individual is a silly fantasy. The only person who is truly looking out for you is no other than you.Under communism, the government decided who got what. It's the ultimate secession of power from the people. The people depended on the government for survival. The people were nothing without the state.The experiment failed.In the United States, the state is nothing without the people.I grew up with the stories of living under those regimes. Those stories -- the related experiences -- shape how I think today.