Ever since the Great Depression the average American's overall tax burden has gone up. We began social security, we expanded or created welfare programs, food stamps, unemployment insurance, and a whole list of other entitlements. These obviously were meant to end hunger and unemployment in the United States, otherwise the only possible purpose could be political. Politicians raise taxes and start new programs in order to foment a feeling of dependency on them, so that as many people as possible will feel they have to keep voting for whomever or they'll lose their tax-funded lifeline. Of course any politician is going to deny this. If the poltical reason is not true then we examine the ending hunger and unemployment theory. If this is true then it makes politicians look stupid. Welfare programs have done what for the country? The change int eh percentage of poor and/or uneployed in this country can be explained much more easily and simply by talking about changing employment structures and new industries in the United States. Did welfare get the people off the farms? No, new businesses did. Did welfare reduce the unemployment rate to near an all-time low in the 90's and have us almost matching that now in the 2000's? No, the tech boom did the former, and Bush's tax cuts combined with the cyclical nature of economics is causing the latter. This is, of course, ignoring certain exceptions like the Great Depression, which really only went away with World War II, not with Roosevelt's alphabet programs, which many economic historians now feel exacerbated the problems of the era. So for 60 years or so primarily the left has pushed welfare and employment related programs that haven't worked, yet to them the solution is to make more, not scale back and try other things. Either left-wing politicians are power-hungry control freaks, or they are so stupid that after 60 years they still haven't learned a simple lesson.

Just as people who have actually tried real socialism, and not quasi-hippie-commune crap on a small scale in some smelly house in San Francisco, have realized, those that can contribute the most work their asses off to support the people who either can't suport themselves, or feel happier allowing others to do the work for them. Suddenly instead of having an economic divide you end up with an effort divide and the whole thing falls into either chaos as justified resentment boils up, or the effort steers toward tyranny, as one person or a group of people take power ostensibly because only they know best and know how to keep the evil principle of "From each according their ability, to each according to their need" going, with "and most of it to thise in charge" added to the end.

Socialism in almost every form simply does not work, as proven time and time again. And big government leads to big brother. Historically, anyway. To the politicians and political groupees that favor such nonsense, history does not matter or they wouldn't be supporting such things.