Business and Government

There are people who blame the government for all the world's problems, and there are people who blame business for all the world's problems. Both are wrong.

Reagan stated that “the government is not the solution, the government is the problem.” In fact, most of the people who worked in the government at the time did so for principled reasons. They answered John Kennedy's call for public service. They asked not what their country could do for them but what they could do for their country.

Many of the people who went into business under Reagan did so for right reasons as well. They wanted to build prosperity. They wanted to make their country powerful. They wanted to be in charge of their lives. They wanted to provide for their families. Many of these people were not jerks, although some were. And even many of the jerks did what they did for the right reasons.

Both business and government can go wrong – sometimes terribly wrong. We have seen recent examples of both. But neither business nor the government is the bogeyman. I've known wonderful people in both business and government; and they should be respected for what they are.

Both the businessmen and the “bureaucrats” are people, and many of them are good people. Neither should be demonized. If people either in the business or the government do wrong, they should be made accountable. But both pursuits are important, and neither the one or the other deserves to be destroyed.