As I read through this post I highlighted sentences and paragraphs that just hit the nail on the head. I was going to quote them here to discuss, but I would have just ended up quoting the whole post, pretty much.
I think many of us have lost sight of being responsible and are too busy trying to find entitlement. It's easy to feel helpless and even easier to ask someone else (the all powerful state in this case) to protect us. Thinking for ourselves is hard, standing up for ourselves and others is scary.