I look forward to reading your thesis on how the Civil War has directly affected speed laws, hurricane recovery, cigarette taxes and the like. I wonder if your thesis will include other, more proximate causes, such as the unprecedented growth in the scope and power of government as a result of the Great Depression and the Second World War, or the impact of the Baby Boom generation with its sense of entitlement and government as nanny.

Hey Matt. Didn't you hear? That's all a plot by Abraham Lincoln's clone.