 |
|
|
|
« Back to Opinion & Analysis
The Audacity of Free Enterprise
Editorial for the Houston Community Newspaper
Steven F. Hotze, M.D.
August 28, 2008
Free enterprise innovations are the way to create solutions, not government programs.
If you were to believe everything that is written in the newspapers and broadcast on major television networks, as many Americans do, then you would come to the conclusion that everything is going to hell in a handbasket.
Liberal politicians and the media portray current events in the worst light, creating a sense of insecurity and fear among the general populace. Despite eight years of their warnings about a coming recession, we have experienced sustained economic growth.
Promoting bad news gives liberal politicians job security and an opportunity to promise government solutions for perceived problems. Fear mongering is the means they use to gain control by increasing the power of the state. They disdain the liberties offered individuals by the free enterprise system.
Individuals, who have not fared well in life because they have not disciplined themselves to become educated or have been slothful in their work, love the socialists' promise of something for nothing and vote for the politicians who make them that offer. Did you listen to the common theme of the speakers at the Democrat convention? "Things are bad and the government will solve your problems if you put us in charge." Following this siren song will dash liberty against the rocks of government intervention.
Why in the world would anyone think that government should be a nanny for the citizens? It is far better to place your confidence in the entrepreneurial ingenuity cultivated by the free enterprise system to solve our nation's problems. This provides you with the greatest opportunity to succeed.
What can the government do about high gasoline prices? It could institute a windfall profit tax on the oil companies and place price controls on the cost of gasoline. That would lead to decreased oil production, gasoline shortages and the same type of rationing that occurred in the 1970s.
The liberals continually warn us that oil is a depleting resource. President Carter forecast during his term that we would run out of oil within 10 years.
Al Gore has been giving hysterical warnings for 20 years about the impending environmental disaster because of oil use. Recently, Gore called for the elimination of all fossil fuel electricity production within 10 years. He warned, "The future of human civilization is at stake." This utter nonsense is propagated by the liberal media.
Oil is currently our best source of energy. In a free enterprise system, when oil prices increase there is an incentive to develop new energy sources. Government cannot develop these new technologies, however, the free market will. Private ownership allows for the best allocation of resources because there is a profit motive. Entrepreneurs will build a better mouse trap. Wood for energy was replaced by animal fats and vegetables oils which in turn were replaced by coal, gas and oil. Eventually, fossil fuels will be replaced by other energy sources.
Free enterprise will create these solutions and provide real hope for America's future.
About Conservative Republicans of Texas
Steven F. Hotze, M.D. is president of Conservative Republicans of Texas and founder of Hotze Health & Wellness Center in Houston, Texas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
