Blue Pill Blues

"You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss."
--Cypher (The Matrix)

Garrett (1953) suggested if, in 1900 the massive increase in government that would occur over subsequent decades could have been foreseen thru a crystal ball, then the American citizen would have staunchly resisted and endeavored to change history. And yet, as Garrett observed, the citizenry did indeed consent to expanding government power. Or, more accurately, first it happened then they consented.

World War I, New Deal Spending, World War II. The people voted for none of this. In fact, we voted presidents into office ahead of these events who ran on platforms that promised the direct opposite of what they subsequently did.

A number of factors can lead to such a phenomenon. Some people may not understand or care what is going on (ignorance and apathy). It is also well understood that many folks who do disagree with government actions tend to go along and submit anyway. Finally, there is the idea to expand the government's scope first, then seek popular support if/when certain segments of the population like what they experience.

All three were certainly at work to some degree--as they always are when government expands. Bureaucrats understand these mechanisms.

Specifically to the 'let's try it, they might like it' mechanism, Garrett (1953: 100) quotes Secretary of State Cordell Hull who explained the New Deal's doctrine of corrupting people for their own good to a US senator. "My boy, this follows a bent of human philosophy. At first people will demur at the idea of subsidies and accept them very reluctantly, and then after a while they will accept them in good grace, and later they will demand them." 

References

Garrett, G. 1953. The people's pottage. Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers, Ltd.