A paragraph from F.A. Hayek in The Road to Serfdom captures the state of our society better than this weekend’s paeans to the independence we once had, cherished, and were willing to fight for:
Thus, the more we try to provide full security by interfering with the market system, the greater the insecurity becomes; and, what is worse, the greater becomes the contrast between the security of those to whom it is granted as a privilege and the ever increasing insecurity of the underprivileged. And the more security becomes a privilege, and the greater the danger to those excluded from it, the higher will security will be prized. As the number of the privileged increase and the difference between their security and the insecurity of the others increases, a completely new set of social values gradually arise. It is no longer independence but security which gives rank and status, the certain right to a pension more than confidence in his making good which makes a young man eligible for marriage, while insecurity becomes the dreaded state of the pariah in which those who in their youth have ben refused admission to the haven of a salaried position remain for life.
Independence has been traded for security, and as surely as night follows day, we will end up with neither.
STRAIGHT LINE LOGIC 