| | Steyn says, "The 44th president's multi-trillion-dollar budget, the first of many, adds more to the national debt than all the previous 43 presidents combined, from George Washington to George Dubya. ... But forget the money, the deficit, the debt, the big numbers with the 12 zeroes on the end of them. So-called fiscal conservatives often miss the point. The problem isn't the cost."
He is talking about the moral, spiritual, psychological consequences of the loss of freedom. He points out that every dollar increase in government spending comes with a decrease in freedom.
He describes stages of national deterioration. Stage One as, "The benign paternalist state promises to make all those worries about mortgages, debt, and health care disappear."
He argues we have reached stage II, "when the state as guarantor of all your basic needs becomes increasingly comfortable with regulating your behavior. Free peoples who were once willing to give their lives for liberty can be persuaded very quickly to relinquish their liberties for a quiet life."
He continues with "Stage Three: When the populace has agreed to become wards of the state, it's a mere difference of degree to start regulating their thoughts."
I have only touched on the highlights of the column - it is much richer because of the detail I've not included. But you can see that he is talking about the moral, psychological relation to the government policies and the economy.
He goes with two more stages and how they end up changing not only the economic and cultural structures of society, but the attitudes of the people as well.
It is an excellent read - Please don't think my little summary here does it justice - it doesn't.
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You can live as free men, but, if you choose not to, your society will die.
