People held as slaves suffered brutal oppression, and women suffered various rights violations. But while these rights violations were eventually addressed, collectivism slowly seeped back into the system and weakened the checks and balances that were put in place to protect our individual rights. In the late 19th and early 20th century the pace picked up in important respects. The collectivist advocacy for violating individual rights in the name of “the common good,” “the public interest,” “the will of the people,” “the will of the majority,” or “minority interests” gave us government (public) education, Social Security, Medicare, a plethora of other programs, and the regulatory state. Slowly but surely, welfare statism became the social system of America that we live with today.
Think Right or Wrong, Not Left or Right 