There has been talk on some conservative blogs about people getting angry enough to riot in this country because of the actions of the Obama administration. I have a hard time imagining riots in the streets. This is because of who is upset now and who was upset in the 60s. The protest culture of the 60s was made up of the idle–college students, welfare recipients, societal drop-outs, etc. Hippies had time to riot and protest because they did nothing productive and had no responsibilities. College students had time to protest between classes and parties when daddy’s money or government aid paid their way. All that idle time could be turned to mischief. Everyone wants to feel they are doing something useful; you either get this sense through your job or another outlet. They did it through protest and misguided attempts to change the world. The protests had the added effect of making their laziness look like sacrifice: “Man, I can’t get a job; there is too much that needs changed.”

The people who are angry now are the producers. These people have responsibilities–kids to feed, mortgages to pay, taxes to file. This is why you don’t see the huge crowds; the folks on our side are busy trying to keep food on the table in the face of a confiscatory government.

People will get angry. But I am not sure it will be channeled the right way. We have long ago stopped being the nation that so distrusts government. We as a people have been indoctrinated to look for government help from cradle to grave and to believe that the government was our friend. Even our last Republican president and his cabinet believed this—look at the expansion of entitlements under Bush and the TARP fiasco that started with him. As the economy worsens it is likely that it will drive people even farther into Keynesian deficits or even into blatant socialism. We see the majority of Americans accepting the new regulatory climate of Geithner’s Treasury Department and hear the demands for more from certain sectors.

The only thing that will change this view of government is abuse. Once people realize that the nanny state has too high of a liberty cost they will either rise up and shake it off, or lay down in comfort as the government handles their medical care and retirement. It will all depend of whether we as a people are still motivated by the spirit of Washington, Jefferson and Madison or if we have accepted the shackles of fiscal slavery.