War in Vietnam, war in Iraq, war on poverty, war on drugs

[betgo]

I am not a libertarian or anarcho-capitalist, and I don't blame everything that is going on on Licoln or even FDR. However, it seems like we have a bloated federal government that engages in hugely wasteful, nonproductive and damaging projects.

The wars on poverty and drugs seem similar to the wars in Vietnam and Iraq. A lot of money spent, plenty of casualties, but nothing accomplished. The war on poverty resulted in people developing a strange lifestyle of dependence on the government. The war on drugs sends some people to prison for a long time, but does little to stop drugs. The situation is very similar to the prohibition of alcohol, except in that case the enforcement was obviously corrupt and there were only some short prison sentences.

It seems like politicians, bureacracy, government contractors and some special interests like these giant projects because because they gain through all the wasteful expenditures.

Socialism was a 19th century ideal based on the excesses of capitalism. However, it was very naive to expect government to solve a lot of problems. It seems like Communism failed because the huge government didn't work economically. Big government has become a deadweight in the US and western Europe.