The entrenched mindset, the default position in American politics today is for government to "do something." This is the activist view of the state - held by both Democrats and Republicans - that no area of human activity is not the state's business.

We can blame pandering politicians for this, we can blame the cronyist patronage system, we can blame mainstream media and government schools for this - and they are all to blame. But it doesn't change the fact: most Americans are now reflexively progressive, meaning they want government to do something, rather than reflexively libertarian.

Jeff Deist