Parker: Competing Institutions in Society

Star Parker

Townhall - As Americans celebrate Mother’s Day 2011, I doubt many will be thinking about any connection between their Mom and budget negotiations in Washington. But there is a connection. Mother’s Day became a national holiday by way of a resolution passed by Congress in 1914. Although since then the country has grown to become the world’s undisputed superpower, at the same time key social realities that helped enable us to get to this point have changed and eroded. In 1914, the total take of government at all levels – federal, state, and local – was less then ten percent of the American economy. Today it is close to forty five percent. Beyond the obvious economic and fiscal dimensions of this, this change reflects important shifts in basic attitudes of Americans toward life in general. Although individualism has always defined American life, few would ever have denied that the social aspects of our lives are as vital and fundamental as the individual aspects. What really has changed is how a large part of our population now sees these social aspects. There’s been a shift in the center of gravity from family to government. Increasingly Americans have come to see government rather than family as the institution through which we primarily help each other. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Parker: Competing Institutions in Society