[Sam the Sham]

I don't like the popular culture Viacom has created. That does not mean I don't like capitalism.

In a culture awash in immediate gratification values people can't trust each other so they need Big Government as a referee. That's reality.

You want a small government, restore Victorian culture.

[x]

The idea seems to be that if you create a political order like that of 1900, society will adapt to it. But that's a little hard to believe. Society is what it is because people make the choices that they do, and people won't choose to impose that Victorian political order on others if their own life choices are radically at odds with Victorian social practices.

Over a century society has moved away from what once was. We've gone too far. But I doubt we're going to go all the way back in the other direction. The more comfortable and secure people are, the more some will be inclined to break with social norms. So the closer you get to the older ways, the more likely it is that the next generation will move in the opposite direction -- towards looser morals and a greater role for government.

When the shoe pinches, you take care of it. When it doesn't you don't bother with it. In politics most people are only interested in getting the shoe to stop pinching, and don't keep up with public affairs once the shoe fits them well enough.