How much government should we have? Do we really need all these laws and restrictions on our personal liberties?
Those questions are the essence of a Classic Liberal (now called Libertarian) position. BTW, the reason it can no longer be referred to as "Liberal" is because that label has been usurped by the Socialists (excuse me, they're called Democrats in the US now, but still called Socialists in Europe).
All this name-calling can get confusing, but there are essentially two schools of thought: Let's call them "A" and "B", so as to avoid offending anyone. People seem to get offended easily these days.
"A" says the responsibility of government is to protect the life, liberty and property of the individual. It is upon this principle that the US was formed. The Founders were careful to NOT form a strong central government, preferring a union with limited powers (All powers not vested in the central government were retained by the states and the people).
"B" prefers a strong central government, capable of providing complete security for its citizenry - even at the expense of individual liberties. This concept is based on the assumption that government knows best, while the individual does not. This form of government is responsible for mandating warning labels such as the one on hair dryers that says,
"WARNING: Do not use while showering!"
Now, I am going to make some generalizations - realizing fully that by doing so, I risk offending the sensibilities of any number of people - but, here goes....
The sort of person who favors "A" takes responsibility for his/her own actions, realizing that he/she is capable of creating the type of life they want to live. No one's plans will always turn out as they had hoped, but when the outcome is undesirable this person looks inward for the reason and makes a course correction, and tries again. Government's responsibility is to guarantee opportunity, but it is left to the individual to seize those opportunities and make what he/she can of them.
Contrasting this, the person who favors "B" does not feel in control. He/she still makes plans, but when those plans fail this person looks outward for someone to blame. Believing him/herself to be a victim of the actions of others, he/she demands that someone make it right. For this person, the government's responsibility is to fix all the things that don't go as he/she would like them to be. There must be laws to punish anyone/everyone who doesn't guarantee his/her happiness, and the legal right to sue the offenders. (Offenders are defined as anyone the offended deems to be offenders. With this definition, it is impossible to know if you may be an offender until the offended tells you that you are).
I could go on, but I think I see an angry mob preparing to call their attorneys, so I have to go now.
http://www.voltairepress.com/article.php?story=20080518195716282