“The mania for giving the Government power to meddle with the private affairs
of cities or citizens is likely to cause endless trouble, through the rivalry
of schools and creeds that are anxious to obtain official recognition,
and there is great danger that our people will lose our independence
of thought and action which is the cause of much of our greatness, and
sink into the helplessness of the Frenchman or German who expects his
government to feed him when hungry, clothe him when naked, to prescribe
when his child may be born and when he may die, and, in time, to regulate
every act of humanity from the cradle to the tomb, including the manner
in which he may seek future admission to paradise.” —Mark
Twain