George, I may just as easily make the case that the Democrat Party as I knew it in my youth has been suborned by the followers of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. The actions taken by Democrats at all levels over the past five or six decades and the deconstruction and rewriting of American history by 'progressive' academics to make it seem that America is the source of all the world's ills is right out of Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto. The push to make everyone except the nomenklatura slaves to The State, to make them less human and nothing more than cogs in an authoritarian state has been slowly coming to fruition. While many of the people who have been working towards this goal won't call themselves Marxists or Communists, or worse, don't even realize that's what they've become, they seem perfectly fine with the idea, not understanding that it once the downfall of America is completed, they will become redundant and will join the ranks of 'cogs'.So endith the lesson.
Ayn Rand warned of the dangers of this backhanded push towards Karl Marx's 'dream'. She had lived under socialism and saw it for what it was: a jealous, capricious, and psychopathic god who would brook no dissent, did NOT have the best interests of the citizens at heart, and had no problems killing millions to 'cleanse' the land of dissenters. She saw the creeping spread of government control over all aspects of our lives here in the US as a danger and tried to express those dangers in books like The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.
All that aside, these are some of things I have learned from direct observation during my decades on this planet:
-Government isn't the answer to all our problems. More often than not, it is the cause.
-Government, particularly at the national level, isn't competent to deal with regional issues.
-Government at the national level has made the mistake of forcing one-size-fits-all solutions to problems that exist in only one area of the nation or in one segment of our society, usually to the detriment of far more people than it's trying to help.
-Government is an inertia laden monster, inefficient, and quite often working at cross-purposes with itself.
-Government at the national and state level becomes beholden to cronies and lobbyists, regardless of the parties in power. The Left always likes to decry the 'influence' of the Koch brothers, but conveniently ignore the even greater influence of George Soros - a convicted felon and self-proclaimed socialist - and Tom Steyer, each who have spent many times the amount of money to push candidates and legislation that benefits them. The Democrats are merely their errand boys. At least the Koch brothers have created thousands of jobs and have supported candidates in both parties. That can't be said for either Soros or Steyer.
-Whenever someone makes the claim “The government simply MUST do 'X'!” it is usually a sign that it's something the government shouldn't do at all, or should at least take the time to look closely at it and then decide some time later if it should do anything at all.
-Government, particularly at the national level, is no more smarter or wiser than the average American. So what makes people, specifically Progressives, think that government is competent enough or wise enough to run anyone else's lives? The people in government have a tough enough time running their own.
-Government, at all levels, usually makes the mistake of ignoring human nature and at times tries to change it. By doing so, it will always fail. Then the Law of Unintended Consequences comes into play, usually to the detriment of the people.
I could go on ad nauseum, but I doubt that any of it would change your mind or entice you to explore your own beliefs, away from like-minded folk who will merely inhibit your ability to question those beliefs and look at them dispassionately and with logic.
NOTE:This response won't appear in the local paper until either Tuesday or Wednesday next.