There are plenty of explanations for the rise of socialism, anti-Americanism, and declining patriotism among younger Americans and the Democrat Party more broadly.

Universities deserve some of the blame. For years, students have been taught to view America primarily through its failures, capitalism as inherently oppressive, and government intervention as the solution to nearly every problem. But the deeper issue goes beyond our education system. The greatest reason so many Americans are turning against the principles that built this country is that we have lost our fundamental distrust of government.

America was born out of skepticism toward centralized power. The Founders did not believe that government officials would always be honest, benevolent, or responsible. They understood that human beings are flawed and that giving any person or institution too much authority would eventually lead to abuse.

That is why America has checks and balances, separation of powers, federalism, the Electoral College, and constitutional protections for individual rights. These systems were not created because the Founders hated government. They recognized that government was necessary. But they also understood that it should be limited, divided, and restrained.

At the core of the American system was the belief that government is a necessary institution that must never become more powerful than the people it serves.

That consensus is disappearing.

Modern Democrats increasingly treat government power as inherently good. Rather than asking whether Washington should have the power to do something, they ask only whether that power could advance their preferred political outcome.

There is also an obvious political incentive behind expanding government dependency. The more Americans depend on federal programs for food, healthcare, housing, education, or income, the more difficult it becomes to challenge the politicians administering those benefits.

Someone who believes his livelihood depends on a government program is unlikely to support a candidate promising to reduce that program. Democrats therefore have a vested political interest in expanding the number of people who view Washington not merely as a government, but as their provider.

This also explains why the distinction between state and federal power has nearly disappeared from political debate.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, for example, did not prohibit abortion nationally. It overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion policy to elected representatives, primarily at the state level. Americans in different states were once again allowed to debate and vote on the issue.

Yet Democrats portrayed the decision as an assault on democracy. Apparently, allowing voters and state legislatures to decide major questions is only democratic when the outcome aligns with what progressives want.

That reaction reveals how many Americans now view federal power. Washington is expected to impose one policy on all 50 states, even when the Constitution leaves the matter to the people and their elected representatives.

Supporters of expansive government usually argue that more power is needed to protect people’s rights. But power granted to the government for a supposedly benevolent purpose does not disappear when a different party takes office. A government powerful enough to provide everything is also powerful enough to take everything away.

That is what younger Americans must understand. Limited government is not about cruelty, selfishness, or abandoning people in need. It is about recognizing that every expansion of government authority creates another opportunity for its abuse.

America cannot remain free if its citizens view government power as the solution to every problem. Our constitutional system survives only when the American people remain more suspicious of concentrated power than they are attracted to its promises.