LTrain, i think, philosophically, you've explained a lot. but, that still doesnt give me/us a clue as to which is better and why.

we may be trending towards the left because of urbanization, but why do we NEED to give services to the poor? why do we NEED more gov't control? cant WE make up our minds for ourselves? dont we deserve to keep more of what we earn instead of have it given away in a direction we dont support?

problem is that we have freedoms here. and, with more freedom comes greater responsibility. and, sadly, we are becoming more and more IRresponsible as a society. and, that is why we are deciding it is just easier on our brains to give the tougher decisions to the gov't. we are getting lazy/complacent as hell.