A Perfectable Union?

Arnold Kling points out something seemingly innocuous, but scary to the liberty-loving ear:

My guess is that Barack Obama just casually made this remark.

"I believe in our ability to perfect this union because it’s the only reason I’m standing here today."

I suppose that to most people, this is just another nice, feel-good statement. But it alarms me. The desire for perfection is an excuse for endless intervention. Although earlier in the speech, Obama said,
"I trust the American people to realize that while we don’t need big government," perfectionism justifies unlimited increases in government power. If every flaw is curable, then it follows that we need to give government all the power it needs to implement the cure.

I can think of no better assessment of governmentalists (government fundamentalists). These are the people with a simultaneous egalitarian and authoritarian bent — so-called "progressives."

Freedom fundamentalists like myself think that moving assymptotically towards perfection is something each individual does with maximum elbow room and minimum interference from government. Each individual. My perfection is not yours. A collective perfection is a chimera, born from the minds of the power-hungry and deluded–aka people in Washington and Raleigh.
-Max Borders