“Obama, July 13, 2012: There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me — because they want to give something back. They know they didn’t — look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. (Applause.)
If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.
The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires.
So we say to ourselves, ever since the founding of this country, you know what, there are some things we do better together. That’s how we funded the GI Bill. That’s how we created the middle class. That’s how we built the Golden Gate Bridge or the Hoover Dam. That’s how we invented the Internet. That’s how we sent a man to the moon. We rise or fall together as one nation and as one people, and that’s the reason I’m running for President — because I still believe in that idea. You’re not on your own, we’re in this together.”
What can you get out of this? What is the point of this entire little speech?
First, he is not saying that businesses aren’t the result of intelligent people who work hard. There is no escaping the implication he makes, but arguably he wasn’t saying that at all. He was making a much larger point.
What he is saying is that businesses would not be there without the government, that private entities owe their very existence to the government. According to Obama we cannot survive without government. Bridges cannot be built, fires cannot be put out and the internet would not exist without government.
What he is doing is making an argument for bigger government and more control. That the government is the protector, the creators and the keepers of the peace. That the government is the reason we can communicate the way we do and the only reason our houses aren’t all burnt to the ground.
He is championing the idea that, without government, we’d head straight back to the dark ages, completely ignoring the fact that businesses exist, not because of the government, but in spite of the government.
Answer this question; do businesses exist because of the government or in spite of the government? If your answer is the former, then explain how the government has helped. If the latter, how has it gotten in the way? Try arguing both ways, it’s always interesting to see how playing “devils advocate” may expand your view a little.
