Many of us think the benefits do not outweigh the risks. I am opposed to virtually everything 'national' except military. In the United States there is a huge divide between the cultural norms of the city dweller, the suburbanites, and those living in rural America. That divide is even stronger on a state by state basis. The average San Franciscan has an entirely different worldview when compared with the average North Carolinan. The beauty of the American system is that each locality mostly has the ability to determine it's own rules while still sharing a single military and tax base. Certain tradeoffs have to be made to support such a system - meaning we have to put up with each others differences to some degree and potentially 'miss out' on the benefits of national programs. In the end, I prefer that about the US system.