Many observers, identifying themselves as either "conservative" or "liberal," have observed in dismay the constant increase in regulations, controls, taxes, suppressions of civil liberties, and general statism in the United States and other "social democracies." Seeking to explain this evolutionary pattern, but unfamiliar with the principles discussed in this course, many have postulated a secret conspiracy by foes of freedom, supposedly directing the trends just described in accordance with a hidden plan. (Such conspiracy theories have been popular among left-wing radicals as well as right-wing groups such as the John Birch Society and militia groups.) As our analysis shows, however, no conspiratorial cabal is necessary to explain these trends; rather, they represent a natural progression of a society based on the mixed premises of freedom and statism, premises which were present even in the early days of the American Republic (cf. pp. 5.2:24-5, 5.2:36). The demise of mixed economies also exemplifies the failure of policies of moral compromise, discussed in pp. 3.10:13-16. Just as we did not need to assume a conspiracy of malevolent bus drivers to account for the chaotic bus system described in pp. 5.4:5-8, we do not need to resort to conspiracy theories to account for the increasing statism in a system based on compromise and mixed premises.      Next page
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