[sausman]

People (demos) and power (kratos) tend to not go well together, which is why the US was founded as a democratic Republic with strictly limited power. Many of the founders viewed the state as a necessary evil.

Ben Franklin referred to the US as “A Republic, if you can keep it." I think it’s fair to say we haven’t. Power is no longer viewed as an evil to be restrained, but the solution to our problems.

We need to realize the state is force, and force is rarely the solution to our problems. In most cases it creates more problems than it solves.