The entirety of the article is very interesting, but there were two very subordinate thoughts of Morgan's that struck me as very provocative. I've made my riff on one of those thoughts in the previous posting.
The second quote from Morgan paints a picture of the European society from which Columbus came, and which contrasted itself to that which they considered barbarian:
They had strong governments to protect property, to protect good persons from evil ones. . . .
For me, encountering this thought comes not long after I read some discussion, from different persons, about what the proper or legitimate role (or scope, or extent) of government should be. I think Morgan states it well, and succinctly. We have a Constitution and Bill of Rights that were written as they are to help ensure that the weak are not exploited or otherwise harmed by the strong (or more clever, or more ruthless, etc.) But some extreme conservatives and libertarians would not agree with this. I wonder if, if it were put to them, they would even say that we do not need or want the government to protect investors from a Bernie Madoff; or protect consumers from food manufacturers who might want to make and sell unhealthy food.
Well, actually, I think I know the answer to that one. It's easy to condemn a Madoff. Where it's just one individual, it's easy to condemn him. But, when it's corporations, or an industry—why, in that case some people almost seem to be saying that Business can do no wrong. Anti–big government people like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush feel that business must not be hamstrung by government oversight. But the interests of a corporation—usually meaning, in one word, its profits—can and often do conflict with the interest of consumers—who are more numerous. In other words, should or should not the government legitimately protect the majority (the public, or "consumers") from a minority—one corporation or one industry? So much seems to hinge on issues like this, of protecting one group from another. And that is precisely, as Morgan says, one of the central functions of government.
Copyright © 2010 by Richard Stein
People like Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Sarah Palin, Ross Perot, and Ron Paul like to come out against big government and appear business minded but in fact are (or were) control freaks themselves. One might get a false impression by listening to the likes of some of these off-the-wall hot air baloon types that they never resorted to any form of regulating themselves. Also it should be noted that the notion of complete governmental deregulation of industry is not always such a good thing as extremist rw rhetoric might otherwise suggest. With the current rw Tea Party fiasco rant and smear style politics coupled with an extremist rw call for voter literacy tests-which would in essence return the American voting experience to post-Civil War era all time lows-it should be as obvious as ever that rw government is becoming ever more an extremist fringe group which completely lacks oversight of regulation, understanding of deregulation, appreciation of ethics, adherence to the rule of law, or even the remotest notion of common sense in governing.
ReplyDeleteIndeed it's easy to attack one lone guy like Madoff and especially when one considers how many people Bernie singled out to attack and sack when he and Ruthie were sitting pretty atop other peoples fortunes on top of the world. I have no sympathy for any individual or business so lacking in ethics that creates an impressive balance sheet by way of ruination of others. I'm sure Madoff isn't the only high flyer who has earned a room in the slammer and I'm all for other culprits out there like Bernie to be nabbed and shown the error of their ways. Big business likewise has a history of abuse and needs oversight. Often people are either apprehensive or downright scared to take on much less challenge wrongdoings of big business. I'm sure by now most everyone has heard the expression "don't bite the hand that feeds you" Unions are weak whereas some corporations remain powerful. Until people cease being afraid and tire of being bullied and ripped off I can't see the prospects of much improvement in this area. In fact masses will need to quit being asses and enable progressive changes.
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