The nation is splitting into predictable lines on the health care debate — predictable because the split occurs on so many issues. The split is between those who don't trust government and those who don't trust commercial institutions.
But the fact is, government and commerce are two arms of enterprise; what we comparatively unorganized masses need to be aware of and beware of is the cooperation of the public and private sectors.
The nation is splitting into predictable lines on the health care debate — predictable because the split occurs on so many issues.
The split is between those who don't trust government and those who don't trust commercial institutions. Count me among the latter, because I expend so much of my consumer energy making sure I'm not getting snookered by a commercial pitch. But the fact is, government and commerce are two arms of enterprise; what we comparatively unorganized masses need to be aware of and beware of is the cooperation of the public and private sectors.
If Americans who don't trust government and Americans who don't trust corporations could work together, we could form a counter-balance so that true democracy — that is, the will of the people — could be enforced. As it is, echoing the words of the PBS get-rich guru, our society is guided by the Golden Rule: Those with the gold make the rules. And they reside in both statehouses and CEO suites, often interchangeably. Corporations and the super-rich finance the careers of politicians, and politicians pass the laws that make them richer.
So let's drop the false dichotomy of government versus free enterprise and instead seek incentives for elected officials to work full-time for the taxpayers paying their salaries, instead of spending one-third of their working hours trading clout for campaign contributions and much of the rest of the time promoting and protecting the private interests who sponsor them.