How to destroy a society

I am more and more troubled by the expectations of society. A free-trade society is what made this country great. People immigrated to this country with an idea so revolutionary that it was even named, "the American Dream." This dream was to live in a society where hard work paid off, innovation flourished, and even the poorest could prosper by simply putting thier hearts and minds into action. This 'drive' is what made this country great. This 'drive' has unfortunately been slowly eroded by socialism. Once, an entrepreneur could pour his life into an idea and make a fortune. Today, the same entrepreneur is slowed by power-hungry politicians, taxed to pay for those who choose not to follow the dream, extorted by unions demanding increased wages, and demonized by the liberal media.
We have become a society of 'takers' instead of a society of inventors. We have become so dependent on the government that we nearly become a welfare state without even knowing it. The more that the government dishes out, the more that we think we deserve. Thomas Jefferson once said to remember that a government can never give you anything that it has not first taken away from someone else. He also said that any government big enough to give you everything you need is also big enough to take away everything that you have.
America has lost perspective. She has gotten so invloved in setting policy to protect the minority that she has paid no attention to the majority. One person can sue and cry about thier individual rights tot he point that we take away the common rights for everyone else in the process.
The constitution and bill of rights only guaranteed us the rights to: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No where did it promise to run our schools, our retirement programs, our indigent programs, our healthcare system, etc, etc, etc. This is a problem that runs deep into our lives as Americans. We have become accustomed to being taxed, allowing the government to take care of our needs, having little thought as to whether or not this is the best system. The government gets the money and power, while the patriot gets taxed and loses freedoms. Because the taxes rise slowly and the freedoms are lost slowly, over generations, we just accept it.
Mark my words, this cycle has happened in nearly every major civilization and it has ended in the destruction of the society. I venture to say that we will someday be victims of the same arrogant ignorance. The resignation speech of Evan Byah should be ringing strongly in the ears of every American. I believe it to be speaking to the same end. A change has to come. As the partisanship chasm grows deeper and the parties get further apart, the patriots are torn from one extreme to the other. Nothing gets solved, nothing gets better, nothing changes.
A year ago, I made a prediction in my blog. I predicted that
1. Barrack Obama would not be able to live up to his promises, despite control of the house, the senate, and the executive branch. Even with a super-majority, nothing is changing.
2. There would be a clean sweep of the incumbants in the mid-term elections...and it seems that we are on-track for that. **as a side note, make no mistake that the resignation of democratic incumbants are calculated. Polls show that a super-majority of voters hate the incumbants more than the opposing parties....the only way some democratic seats will be kept is to put in a 'new,' non-incumbant democrat. It's brilliant strategy, if it works.
And most importantly,
3. That the Republican party will split into 2 factions. I still believe this. The Republicans don't know who they are anymore. At one time, they were the party of small-government, controlled spending, state's rights, and free-market enterprise. the Republican party has not been this since 1984. Despite it's assertion of being pro-small government, GW Bush increased the size of the Federal Government by 44%. Spending increases regardless of which party is in office. The 10th amendment has been all but destroyed. Special interest groups and lobbyist have put a choke-hold on free-market.
and so, a new era IS dawning. Republicans must decide who they are. Will the 2010 Republican party be one of freedom, controlled spending, and decreasing federal Government...or will it be a party of social oppression, continued spending, negativity, and greed? If the John McCain (moderate) Republicans win the primaries, there may be a period of healing within the party. But, mark my words, if the Sarah Palin (religious right) Republicans win, there will be an exodus to a new, third party. i had once thought that it would be the Libertarians, now I am watching the "Tea" party very closely. If the Republican party splits, the moderate branch WILL pull the 'fiscal conservative'/'social moderate' Independents back to a common party. Given the current unpoularity of the nation's direction, I even venture to say that it will pull some conservative democrats too. The unfortunate thing is that the two "Republican" factions will be too small to defeat the Democrats in a three-party system.
so, to answer my title question: how do you destroy a society? Easy. base all policy on outliers, only elect extremeists, and have the governement believe they are more important than the patriot it represents. I'd say we are well on our way.