If you're worried about how bad the government can get, how many wars they can start or how many more peaceful people they can lock away, then you're starting to get it.

If you're just worried about what the GOP will do or what the Democrats will do or what the President will do, then you're still missing the whole story, IMO.

The long history of national government is not one of rational agreements on how best to organize society. It's a history of war, conquest, subjugation, and rulership. One can make a case for needing centralized control in order to increase well being for the greatest number of people, but I'll still argue that's a difficult premise to independently prove since the victors not only write the history books, but they create the schools the next generation is mandated to attend.

We need regulation, but the world is chaotic. Attempts to control chaos create unintended, mostly worse, consequences. Individuals acting in the interests of themselves, their loved ones, and principles of decency and morality will dynamically evolve local solutions far better than central "authorities." Yes, we need leadership. No, we don't need rulership. Good ideas don't require force. Let's stop making excuses for government and instead move past it. Stop pointing fingers at the other tribe while sweeping our own tribes' faults under the rug.

If a group of people are given power and control over another group of people, that is not okay, even if that group is on "your team" or part of "your tribe." The use of force to get results breeds resentment and entrenchment.

The next time you're tempted to blame one side or the other, please recognize the positions of power are the core of the problem. We should never have let them get that powerful.