On the matter of Paul Rahe vs Mark Steyn raised yesterday, a couple of reactions. First:
With our near-permanent welfare class and a generation of kids who’ve been told that they are children into their late 20’s, I cannot imagine a prolonged revolt against Obamacare… When the outrage wanes, a lot of people are going to tell themselves that, well, if the government is giving things away, they might as well get in on it.
Plus there’s the Katrina Culture. Did any of those “Help Us” types waiting on the “gubmit” to rescue them look capable of crossing the Delaware to you? They’d have been more inclined to steal Washington’s boots.
Congressman Paul Ryan writes:
…In 2004, 20 percent of US households were getting about 75 percent of their income from the federal government.
In other words, one out of five families in America is already government dependent. Another 20 percent were receiving almost 40 percent of their income from federal programs, so another one in five has become government reliant for their livelihood.
All told, 60 percent – three out of five households in America – were receiving more government benefits and services (in dollar value) than they were paying back in taxes.
That is not the demographic profile of the 13 colonies.
It’s not only a numbers game. Even in the 13 colonies, a majority of people were not of an actively “revolutionary” disposition. In the last 40 years, the left didn’t hollow out every important American institution from the grade school to Hollywood because they represented mass opinion, but because they wanted it the most. The question is whether opponents of Obama’s dependency culture are up to their own “long march”.
[A reader adds:
One thing is for sure though. You are certainly not up to the long march. Sitting around whining and feeling sorry for yourself, which is all you seem capable of doing in the last few weeks, is not going to get there. So, do us all a favor and either drop out or buck up. Your “we are all doomed” act has long since grown tiresome. We already have Derbyshire to wisper in our ears. We don’t need another. And he does it with a lot more flair than you do.]