The Fallacy of Utopianism
On the surface, utopianism seems harmless enough, even desirable; everybody wants to be satisfied, so why shouldn't government take responsibility for guaranteeing people's satisfaction? Because government is not able to lead people to satisfaction. Satisfaction is psychological, coming from within people, and so only the individual can make himself happy. Further, everybody's is different; no two people find satisfaction in the same way. This is why the Founding Fathers were careful to talk of government insuring "Pursuit of Happiness." They realized that government cannot assure everybody of satisfaction because everybody's satisfaction is personal and unique.
Beyond its impracticality, there is also the very real danger of utopianism in government which the Founders recognized, a danger to individual freedom. When government is responsible for insuring satisfaction, it is in effect responsible for choosing satisfaction, and the individuals ability to decide their own means of satisfaction is lessened. If government is responsible for us and telling us what will make us happy, then we are unable to chose our own means of satisfaction. We lack the freedom to decide for ourselves, and so are denied the opportunity to find our personal happiness.
Utopianism encompasses the paradox of government. All governments, regardless of their form and makeup, do that which they believe to be good for their citizens. And yet history is full of atrocities perpetrated by government for "the good of the people." We don't usually think of Nazi Germany as a utopia, but that is exactly what Hitler was offering. He was saying that if his followers would give up responsibility, if they would let Hitler decide for them, he would bring them satisfaction; he would take care of them and make them happy. He would lead Germany to utopia. Instead the result was death and destruction matched few times in history. While the utopianism which gained a grip on the United States in the thirties is a large step removed from that of Germany, it is nonetheless a large step too close. The dangers are too great to ever allow government to choose our satisfaction for us.