An essential pillar of the statist movement is the idea that one's station in life is dictated by external forces and that the hope of becoming more wealthy or even rich is a pathetic myth.

In this way, you nurture a nice group of bitter, angry people blaming "the Man," capitalism, restricted opportunities or whatever for their own lack of success, and convinced that only statism and its policies can improve their lot. These people make very good political cannon fodder.

The last person a statist wants to see is someone who is independent, self-reliant, and believes that their own efforts are the key to success. Such a person not only is not dependent on his rulers, he often comes to see them as an obstacle to his own efforts.

In dependence and class warfare there is a lot of power to be had.

Of course, if you look at the real world it becomes obvious that there are no real class barriers in this country. Something like 80 percent of millionaires are first-generation. In 2007, 270 of the billionaire Forbes 400 were entirely self-made, including college and high school dropouts and people who started out poor. I live among very wealthy people who fled their own country in boats with the clothes on their backs.

Poor soil for a statist. At least for one generation.