Ask anyone this question and their political leanings will flow out. Too bad there is no easy answer or else our problems would be solved.Who do you trust to manage the world around you, public (governmental) forces or private (business) forces?
Something interesting happened when I loaded up Google News this morning (02/22/2010). What I saw in the top two headlines was symbolic of the ugly side of both private and public forces. Say what you will about either methodology, there have been countless aggravating stories which make you just hang your head.
News Story #1:
The first sentence of the article:
See?! Business people are lying, conniving, slippery weasels who do not care about the well-being of the people. Toyota does not care about the safety of its products, they are only concerned with the bottom line. The almighty dollar becomes paramount. It's issue number one. How could you possibly think that these people would be most effective with handling the issues of the world? You must be crazy.A Toyota executive boasted of the company saving $100 million by negotiating a limited recall for Toyota Camry and Lexus ES cars over a problem that could cause unintended acceleration.
New Story #2:
Are you kidding me? This was a headline from today? Looks awfully similar to a headline you could have seen back in November of last year. Has nothing changed? Now this is the problem with the bureaucrats, they can't get a thing done. They waste their time everyday splitting hairs on bills that won't do anything while trying to fit pet projects into the legislation. Tell me how this system can possibly be effective when you have a popularly elected President enter into power with control of the Senate and the House of Representatives and yet nothing gets done in a year. You cannot ask for a more favorable governmental situation for a political party. At least the business world gets things done. Better to be moving in one direction or the other rather than atrophy in the minutia of bureaucracy.
Happy Monday to all! You have no good options.
No, I am not breaking any news by saying that there are problems with both the private and public sectors, I simply found it illuminating that the top two stories of the moment where in what seemed to be direct response to each other. It was almost as if I was watching an organized debate with the only problem being that no one wins.
Our government has done some great things. Our private sector has done some great things. But it seems clear to me that there needs to be a good balance. America needs a government which embraces a strong and full functioning private sector, not one which wraps its regulatory arms around every industry. At the same time, America needs a business community that sees the value of an efficient government, without which, business will fail.
GRM
