The more taxes we pay, the bigger government gets, the more they need to seem to do, the more regulations they impose, the costlier business becomes, the more our prices go up, the more taxes are raised - and the cycle continues....

The simple truth is that if we returned to basics and the premise that taxes are there to fund government-only responsibilities, then we'd be paying less taxes and would have more in our pocket to take care of our own needs.

However, governments today are all about interfering in our lives to justify raising more taxes and dreaming up even more entitlements to keep us, the eternally greedy, happy..

The bottom line is that we need to wean people off government dependency. The problem is how? Politicians need to keep promising entitlements to get elected, and they need to keep up the spending to remain popular with voters....so they just continue doing the same failing thing year after year.

In years gone by, the community took care of their own. They helped feed, clothe and give jobs to the poor and downtrodden. That all changed when government stepped in and took over that role, and today we have an entitlement society like never before. Now instead of people doing it out of the goodness of their heart, they're forced to pay for this ever increasing part of society through mandatory taxes.

And once people are used to free money, then there's no going back.

So, how do you convince enough people that sucking off the government teat will ultimately collapse the country? Because, let's face it, most people just don't care about the future. They care about today and what government can do for them. And year after year it gets worse. And eventually the takers outnumber the makers. America is at this point - Greece and Spain have reached and passed it.

Topher is 100% correct - we need to let our governments know that we're tired of this endless merry-go-round of more taxes for more government interference in all aspects of our lives..

The problem are the voters. How many voters have you seen lately protesting in the streets for government to take away their entitlements - which they themselves fund through increased taxes?

What is needed in a massive education campaign where the truth is told and the consequences shown to people. The world needs a complete new mindset.

Greece is a living example of what most Western countries will look like if we don't put the brake on this rot eating at our countries.