More on YDBT

Richard Ralston takes up the "You didn't build that" issue.

His editorial reminded me of a related point that I'm not sure I've seen made.  The trend over the past 120 years has been for the government to slowly usurp what had previously been private functions, forcing each of us into increased dealings with the government and then claiming that we're eternally indebted as a result.

So not only did private money pay for the government schools, roads, etc. (a point that's been well made by a few commentators) but the government forcibly shuts down most or all private alternatives and then claims we're indebted when they've left us no other choices.  In the case of schools for instance, "free" public schools displace private ones and we can't even get tax credits if we'd like to choose the few remaining private alternatives -- essentially forcing us to pay twice for private schooling.  Then truancy laws are added to ensure that everyone uses the public schools, all of which then somehow indebts us to government.  It's really  quite perverse.