As noted at the outset of this analysis, advocates of a mixed economy envision a balance between individual freedom and interventions in the "public interest" (p. 5.4:50). In practice, however, no such equilibrium is possible, since the system's tendencies propel it toward ever more statism and therefore ever-diminishing freedom. The various trends we have observed serve to escalate the pattern of interventionism:

Citizens constantly demand that the government should undertake more projects and exert more control (p. 5.4:64).
The population becomes increasingly acquiescent to statist encroachments (p. 5.4:65). Indeed, the now-disarmed citizenry is virtually impotent to resist the increasing aggrandizement of state power or to act in self-defense against invasions of individual rights. For this reason, gun control, registration, and confiscation are often regarded as successive milestones in the development of totalitarian régimes such as that of Nazi Germany.
Various collectivist groups constantly lobby for special privileges, protections, and favored projects (p. 5.4:69).