Hating business or “corporate America” is like hating a bridge that you drive over; or hating an elevator you take to the 20th floor; or hating the instruments of your surgeon that he uses to heal you.
For that matter, hating capitalism is like hating Christmas, since for most people Christmas means lots of gifts. It is completely irrational to hate the things you depend upon. A world without business would be a world without productivity. In Iowa, this year as past election years, particularly virulent anti-business candidates such as John Edwards and Mike Huckabee are finding their voice. It makes no sense to hate business unless you want ALL productivity to cease. Without business, there will be no profit, to be sure. But without business there will also be no bridges, no elevators and no medical instruments, along with their countless equivalents throughout all our lives. Do you want to live in the Stone Age? And those who seek to merely undermine business are no better. These are the candidacies of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and most of the rest. If you undermine something, you get less of it. So if you hide under the pseudo-reasonable mantle of “moderation” you must, in all honesty, say “I don’t hate capitalism; I don’t want to destroy it. I merely want to undermine it.” And undermine it our politicians do. In the next presidential and congressional term, corporate and individual taxes will likely go up. The rich will have less to spend. This means less business and less activity in the economy. Do you think that’s really good for you, those of you who support these self-praising advocates of “the little guy” such as Edwards and Huckabee? Likewise, businesses will be forced to forgive billions of dollars in mortgages because politicians need votes, and in order to get votes they must disrupt the entire foundation of our economic system: private contract. Just imagine signing a contract that’s important to you. The person on the other end of the contract decides he wants to break it, leaving you in the lurch. Should he be able to contact his Senator and, once she becomes President, should she be able to declare your contract null and void? That’s exactly what’s going to happen, and there will be major consequences both to the economy and “the little guy.”
Don’t fall for the hatred and prejudice against capitalism and business in favor of “the little guy.” The only little guys are those leading the polls (of both parties) in Iowa.