Secondly, I would hope that if on the other hand, that we can convince you that the loss of our freedoms is beyond the scope of acceptable, that while the rate slows under Republicans we continue to lose freedom under Republicans although the freedoms lost under Republicans are different. Under Democrats, we primarily lose personal wealth and control of our own financial futures. But under Republicans, the loss tends to be in the realm of decision making, personal privacy, and hope.
Between these two, there is an issue of timing; call this issue one and one-half (1.5). I frankly don't believe the United States is a viable financial entity. When the dollar dies from a loss of financial confidence in the United States Treasury's ability to cover its liabilities, the government will fall under its own weight. The unfunded liabilities of Medicare and Social Security can only be funded from current receipts. There are no assets in the so-called trust funds, that will actually be available to draw down, when current payments exceed current receipts. That will happen in 2008 for Medicare (where the unfunded liabilities cannot even be quantified, but rather merely projected as a guess), and 2012 based on projections prior to 2001 (if we are entering a prolonged recession or period of stagnation as some are predicting, the date will mover closer to the present, say 2011 or even 2010) for Social Security. Cutting retirement benefits for the boomers who will enlarge an already politically potent electoral base will be difficult at best. Conversely, adding to the already burdensome tax burden of FICA, by far the largest tax to many Americans, is a burden unlikely to be increasingly born the children and/or grandchildren of a group who might be perceived of failing to provide for themselves. And the children and grandchilren know the pyramid is ending. They will have to provide for their own retirement and will be unwilling to give up any resources. These programs were atrocities from the beginning, sold by unscrupulous politicians to buy their own re-elections. I hope that together those who believe its broke and those who believe it isn't can find a solution to privatize these two programs. That could buy some time to solve the other government errors that have taken away so many liberties.
Not recognizing the magnitude of the problems we face is to ignore reality. And the first step toward a solution is the awakening of sufficient numbers of people that the problem exists and giving them some measure of the severity of the problem and a likely time table of when the crisis will occur and how bad it might be. That is what we are trying to discover or to make others aware.
Consider this a formal invitation to those who disagree with my primary premise. We very much invite you to monitor and participate in this discussion. Convince us of the errors in our reasoning; no rational person could wish to end the United States. On the contrary, preserving what has been the finest country in the history of the world and a beacon for freedom for the better part of two centuries is the foundational goal of FreeRepublic. I think our country left us, and I want it back. If we can remodel it so much the better, but I suspect that we are going to have to tear it down before we can rebuild in its own image. Convince me that I am wrong. But I don't think we can wait, I think we have to get started now before the country collapses in flames. Once we are war with each other, the rebuilding will be made far more difficult, maybe impossible.
Most Americans, however, are convinced that 'Socialism' is a foreign doctrine. They find it difficult to admit that many institutions of contemporary society and government are antipathetic to the 'idea' of America, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers.
I don't know if intellectual honesty and moral courage would correct this problem, but they certainly couldn't hurt. ;^)