Vin Suprynowic, writing in the Las Vegas Review Journal, writes: "The modern Prussian police state was built by Bismarck and others in the 19th century on a Spartan model, giving the central government vastly greater control over the individual than had ever been considered possible before. Bismarck’s program centered squarely on insurance programs designed to increase support for the ever larger and more powerful government. The program included health insurance, workman’s compensation, disability insurance and old-age retirement pensions, all innovations at the time. Starting with the model of Prussian compulsory schooling, American “educators,” starting with John Dewey and Edward Thorndike...