Perhaps the age of irresponsibility is over; perhaps we no longer have to shop until we drop; perhaps the compact between the individual and the government, in which both are understood to have obligations as well as rights, can be restored; perhaps the state will cease to treat its citizens like maladjusted adolescents, of whom nothing much can be demanded and to whom everything is permitted.
Tal vez la época de la irresponsabilidad haya pasado; tal vez ya no debamos comprar sin parar; tal vez se pueda restablecer el pacto entre el individuo y el Gobierno, en el que se entiende que los dos tienen obligaciones, además de derechos; tal vez el Estado cese de tratar a sus ciudadanos como adolescentes inadaptados, a los que no se pueda pedir demasiado y a los que esté todo permitido.