The title of George Fitzhugh's ante-bellum defense of slavery applies equally today. Left, right, and center, we all eat away at the body politic the same way we suck down fast food. We all yap about the consumption of public goodies by others, but we are all quick to line up when we want a free meal. Whether its the rich's bailout, the military's runaway budgets for its endless wars, the tax cuts we all want, the social programs that keep the elderly, poor, disabled, orphaned, and unemployed from destitution, we all want out piece of the pie. The result is an overloaded state, that spends more than it can afford to spend, a state chronically in the red.
Plato referred to Athens in decline as a city of pigs. We are a nation of self-indulgent pigs, incapable of collective sacrifice. We all want others to sacrifice, but none of us want to do it ourselves.
