Apparently, I'm everything that's wrong with government

I got into an interesting debate with a few classmates today over the merits of school vouchers. At one point, one of my classmates said, "I think the problem with government is that people like you get elected who don't believe in it." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the government is just like Tinkerbell: if we all clap loud enough, she'll be ok.

Of course, my classmate's remark was completely ignorant of history; there was no lack of faith in the Almighty State in the Soviet Union, in New Deal America or in post-war Britain. Yet somehow, despite the fervent belief and best intentions of bureaucrats, central planning has failed again and again. Thankfully, we had people like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, who (at least ostensibly) didn't believe in government to prevent the US and UK from following the USSR into total collapse.