The moral case for entrepreneurs
Tuesday, July 6, 2010 at 12:06AM 
Lexington column in The Economist.
Clearly, Americans are down on free enterprise. It sounds asinine after all entrepreneurs have done for this country over the decades, but it's true. I daily listen to all sorts of otherwise sensible people spout all sorts of populist crap that's just embarrasses themselves far more than it reveals anything dark and dirty about American capitalism.
Argument from Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute: Americans are about 70-30 in favor of free enterprise, but the 30% are firmly in control of Washington.
Lex's wisdom:
The American right misses Mr Obama's real flaw. He is not a "socialist"; but he does not understand business. As even Democrat-leaning CEOs complain, he neither expresses enough appreciation of capitalism nor shares the wavelength of those who practise it. Bosses are ushered in for photo-calls and then ignored. It is one thing to seek redress from BP, another to vilify it as an alien invader. He is interested in economics and technology; but not in how you make money. That coolness is a weakness . . .
I think this is accurate. Obama has never been a businessman and does not understand the logic whatsoever. And the more he displays it, the more plausible becomes a GOP win in 2012 if they nominate a biz-friendly sort instead of some dumbass social conservative.
Reader Comments (6)
If you have no understanding of capitalism and no feel for business, what is it you believe about the economy but that some people have too much money, which they got by stealing it from the rightful owners? So it's only fair to "spread the wealth around," to coin a phrase.
In short, if you don't understand or believe in capitalism, but are disturbed by inequality of wealth, what else can you be but a de facto socialist? You don't need to be up on Marxist theory. You just feel it's right -- "social justice." "The white man's greed runs a world in need," to quote Reverend Wright.
That's why so many teenagers are de facto socialists. Obama just never grew up. He spent his whole adult life in the socialist-cossetting bubble of academia and left-wing politics.
The 30% will not stay firmly in control of Washington for very much longer. And for the 20somethings who helped vote in this crowd, they are now learning about free enterprise and that it provides jobs not community organizers. Unfortunately, they are learning this the hard way, by NOT getting jobs and suffering 25% and higher unemployment.
Is Obama a socialist? Perhaps not, but he and his administration is as close as I want America to ever get to socialism.
Most G20 protestors are cossetted white middle class kids .
I've seen it at close hand......College kid buddy set to inheirt substantial family business rebels against parents by coming a commited communist .....( ~.."My parents are so unfair..hard on me....I can't fight them on 'their' ground....I'll project outwardly and champion the fairness of other people through Communism..") . He became a commited capitalist as he regained control over his life through the natural process of getting older.
Another factor is the security of Public sector workers and people who have only worked in the public sector..like Obama.
The mind set of having to carve your own destiny every day is not on any Obama breakfast menu .
To my mind..despite his tendencies...he has done a fair job of handling the pigs ear of a economy he landed himself onto.The fact the left and right are unhappywith him is a good indicator that he has got lots right.
Being left leaning or right leaning is not crimminal behaviour but the very stuff that democracies are made off.The vilification of Obama has more to do with the politics of the amygdala and the uncertain times that are here to stay.
Look at what Obama does and skip the talk radio noise. If he wanted the USG to take over business he would have taken over, at least. AIG, General Motors, The Bank of America & Citigroup.
He is smart enough to know what he does not know.
American large corporation lost their own way, without any help from Obama.
The real issue is what would have happened if the above firms did fail, making their stock worthless and taking a real bite out of the creditors. The probable result could have been a total loss of business confidence.
The government, both Bush and Obama were correct to step in to fix failed private companies. The flaw was the retention of the upper management of companies that don’t know what they are doing. Bad management that does not pay the price will again fail.
Capitalism works but crony capitalism doesn't
" the more plausible becomes a GOP win in 2012 if they nominate a biz-friendly sort instead of some dumbass social conservative."
With the potential nomination of Sarah Palin as head of the RNC, those chances would be close to zero.
As always, we'll get the president we deserve.