We are living in the early vestiges of a POLICE STATE - pure and simple. The authoritarianism just hasn't gotten ugly or deadly on a grand scale yet. Government is telling us all what to do and how to live via regulatory fiat. We are told where we can and cannot be, what we can and cannot do, how we will and will not act - all within the very restricted sphere of the dictated policy of others. In most cases, these "others" are beyond democratic choice. We are offered the illusion of republic democracy but remain under the dictates of various government and extra-governmental entities over which the voters have little direct control. Money bought lobbyists and venal legislators encourage cronyism and a reduction of competition. All of the talk about "leveling the playing field" is totally disingenuous and the rules are made up along the way in todays hyper-codified world. The nanny state, destruction of sound money, and the centralization of executive power all point to repressive government control of political, economic, and social life.
As a country and as citizens we are going to have less and less privacy, and much more restriction on our mobility, speech, and ability to assemble. The proverbial "war on terror" will be used for ever expanding limitations on civil liberties and continual increases in FedGov surveillance. Any "national emergency" and/or large scale random act of violence can and will be used to further restrict the populace and eliminate Constitutional rights.
I truly fear that in just a few years we will all look to the past and wonder what happened.
And, is it just me, or did the pedal get pushed down to the metal here and everywhere else in the world with the election of Barack Obama? I know things really started with Geo. W. Bush and 9/11 but overdrive was attained in Nov. of 2008 - this is certainly my sense of things.