Volume 4, Issue 38
In today’s political environment, the test pattern indicating whether the image of our country is in focus or not is flawed in that the orientation of the image is blurred. Those in the public debate are not discussing issues from the same point of reference. Some do not recognize the same facts as foundational. Metaphorically, certain individuals have lost their test pattern for reference, and therefore they are operating from a perception of a blurred reality.
Why?
It is normal and consistent for there to be great political concours generated by ideological concepts. Economist John Maynard Keynes believed in government fiscal stimulus to jumpstart economies in recession and that government intervention was necessary to smooth out the “booms” and “busts” of capitalist economies. Economist Dr. Milton Friedman believed that government budgets should be balanced, that monetary policy (the money supply) was the primary tool for managing economic growth, and that government intervention should be limited. These two schools of economic theory are often displayed as direct opposites. But both economists believed in a common reality -- private ownership and the private sector play an important role in producing jobs and providing for prosperity. Keynes was not a pure socialist and Friedman was not a pure libertarian. They recognized the same axioms of economic principle -- there must be a balance between government economic policy and the private sector. They may have used different knobs to bring the test pattern into focus, but they were seeking the same reality.
Media elites today, for whatever reason, are operating pursuant to a distorted test pattern. They seem incapable of understanding economic theory, the role of government in regulating business, and the benefits of free enterprise in producing jobs. Recently a popular host on MSNBC was cross-examining a Donald Trump economic spokesman. The issue on the table was perceived conflicts of interest concerning the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton. The question posed was, what is the difference in Donald Trump raising the rents in his office buildings and benefitting economically from that and Hillary Clinton leveraging her government contacts to the benefit of the Clinton Foundation? The spokesman, attempting not to embarrass the interviewer, tried to explain the difference. Mr. Trump owns the office tower and can only raise rents to the extent that the market will bear. He does not have a monopoly on office space. A renter is not forced to rent space in Trump Tower. On the other hand, Hillary Clinton does not own the rights to her government contacts. The government belongs to the people. As Secretary of State, she was paid a salary, and therefore, through the government, she was paid by the people. She has no ethical right to leverage government contacts for private gain. The point is not whether Ms. Clinton actually did this; the point is the commentator, at the end of the interview, threw up her hands and said, “I don’t understand the difference.” Her test pattern of reality is blurred.
Most recently on CNN, the same type of economic interview was conducted. The media host asked a Trump spokesman why it wasn’t hypocritical for Donald Trump to claim that he would bring manufacturing jobs now offshore back to America when he sells clothes made overseas in America. The misconnect between the interviewer and the subject matter is that Donald Trump is saying that America makes it difficult for corporations, including his, to manufacture in the U.S. He will change that and be the first to move his company’s operations back home.
There is this sentiment, this illusion, this false perception among media elites and some progressives, that government can dictate economic policy to the private sector. And jobs and prosperity will be achieved if only companies are forced to obey these government dictates. Such theory is the basis of socialism and communism. To quote Milton Friedman: “In 6,000 years of recorded history, socialism has never worked. Why won’t government give up on it?” Yet not only are candidates for office subjected to this line of questioning, media elites appear befuddled when it isn’t clear that they have won the argument.
Media intellectuals seek to expose a conflict of interest when in fact they are exposing their own conflict of reality.
In economic theory, there are axioms that can be violated only so long. Balance is required between government and the private sector. Society requires services and they must be provided. But choices must be made to maintain balance. Our country is in too much debt. Deficits continue to accumulate as a percent greater than the growth of the economy. It is impossible to print and borrow money forever. Otherwise, socialism would have worked sometime in the past 6,000 years.
We must take care of each other, especially when we are in personal need. But the government is not the answer to every problem in society. The family is the center of moral authority. The city is the center of political authority. States are collections of cities, and the United States is a federation respective of the states. In the governance of these levels of society, spiritual values are paramount. These are the elements of the test pattern that must be used to bring the image of our country’s reality into focus.
In bringing into focus the foundational principles of our great nation, we may use different knobs and levers, but the test pattern must be based on the same reality.
My name is Marc Nuttle and this is what I believe.
What do you believe?