We are way past the "hamstringing" stage. I have mentioned before that in the balance between government power and freedom we have drifted a considerable distance past any reasonable midpoint. Forget "laissez faire," we just need to stop ratcheting toward the other end of the curve, never mind backing up a bit.

Our government was envisioned as a heirarchy of local, state and federal systems, with ever-increasing restrictions on government as one approaches the Federal level. Ideally, government is most effective, and certainly more representative, when as many functions as possible are delegated to the local and state levels. Not all functions, just as many as possible.

Currently, we have devolved to a point where local and state governments are becoming almost vestigial in nature. Almost everything is controlled from Washington down to the most trivial issues.

Most of the Federal budget is already dedicated to "wealth redistribution," which was never envisioned as a permitted function of the Federal government. Is that the way things should work?

Competition does not "guarantee" economic diversity, any more than a free market "guarantees" anything at all. But it delivers diversity and progress better than any other method. Certainly government monopolies ensure a complete lack of that diversity.

You are right that there are damn few examples of free societies in history. Americans fail to realize what an exception these ideas are to the rule. However, there are plenty of examples of totalitarian/authoritarian systems, and we have seen how that works for their people. We have had laboratory examples of free market systems on one side of a border, and collectivist systems on the other side. Same people, same land, same culture, same everything else. What other proof is needed?

If there were at least as much cultural and political pressure toward freedom in this country as there is toward collectivism, I wouldn't worry as much.

Just as an aside, the threading on this topic is becoming completely unworkable. I don't know why.