Alone

President Obama makes much of the importance of big government and castigates those who want to limit its growth and slowly reduce its size. On more than one occasion, he has suggested that those of us who object to the unfettered growth of the federal government want citizens to go it alone.

As he racks up yearly trillion dollar deficits to support his big government habit, the Jaltoh blog comments:

To suggest that anyone who'd like to see less heavy-handed government regulation thinks one person can do everything alone is a straw-man argument. It indicates a lack of understanding of how the private-sector economy works and how libertarians or conservatives actually think about economics. The private sector isn't just a bunch of people "acting alone." As Matt Welch pointed out in his critique of the speech, making and selling an object as basic as a pencil is such a complex endeavor that it takes lots of different specialists. No one person has the knowledge to accomplish that seemingly simple task; that's how decentralized knowledge is in society. And with a truly complex product, like a computer or movie, the need for people to work together is even greater still. The private sector isn't fundamentally about everyone being secluded and isolated from each other; it typically involves many people working together. Government regulation often rules out the options people would otherwise want to pursue that would let them work together more. The idea that you're "alone" unless you're being directed by the government strikes me as dehumanizing and almost abusive. So I resist this scare tactic of presenting the government as the alternative to being "alone."

Indeed.

As I have mentioned, I'm in the early phases of a manufacturing start-up. As a private sector entrepreneur, the President seems to think that I'm "going it alone." This profound (in fact, ignorant is a better word) misunderstanding of capitalism and the private sector gives us deep insight into the President's world view. Over the past 6 months, as my company's product evolved from a simple sketch to series of prototypes, to a production ready entity, I have relied on many others, each "going it alone" as craftsmen, designers, small speciality shops, service businesses, and suppliers. Every one of us is a small business and every one of us gives business to others and creates real jobs as a consequence of conducting that business. When the government enters the picture, it's almost always as a road block.

And yet, our President seems to think that we're alone. Truth be told, I'd rather be in the company of small business people who are working 12 hours a day to build or grow a business, than a government bureaucrat who wants to create still more regulations, collect still more taxes, and contribute ... well, nothing. I have a lot more in common with my laser cutting fabricator or my carbon fiber vendor, or the small firm that supplies us with automotive fasteners, than I do with a sanctimonious, ideologically driven "leader" who has barely worked a day in the private sector. But sometimes I do feel alone, thinking of the millions upon millions of Americans who seem unaware that Obama's big government thrust will drive the nation toward ruin.