Should we have a job-based economy or a dependence-based economy? Everyone must agree that we need the jobs, and dependence should not be the end in itself, but part of the social safety net, for those with a real need.
If you think we should have only the dependence-based economy, with the government taking over everything, then you are too far gone and should stop reading now. Most people would agree that such systems have always failed, anywhere they have been tried.
But if success with jobs is essential to the success of economy, then it goes without saying that success of business is essential to the success of the economy. To be pro-job and anti-business makes no sense. That would be like rooting for your favorite team to win and to lose at the same time.
So there has to be a balanced environment that allows for successful business and successful jobs, as well as guarding against excesses that come from lawlessness and thuggery, where predators dominate the scene.
The goal should not be “restrict business to the max” any more than you would want to “restrict my job opportunity to the max”. Rather the goal should be to find the optimum balance.
There were times in this country where the pendulum had swung too far away from this balance, away from social justice. Government grew larger to bring the needed balance. However, I believe the pendulum has for many years swung way too far the other way. That is, there is too much government, too much regulation, too much control, and too much confiscation of property in the name of “fairness.”
It is not a done deal that we are a socialist democracy, and that is over, and get with the program (as John Steward said). We have yet to figure out where the optimum balance point is. The Democrats think the pendulum still needs to swing towards larger government, more dependence and control (which by the way, locks in a large voting block … hmm), while the GOP wants to move the pendulum back to a more balanced point.
If you agree that what we have thought was recession is really the new normal, then have at it. If you don’t have a job, get used to it. But if you think that you would rather have a vibrant, growing economy, where you and your neighbors are as productive as you would like to be, then you ought to reexamine your assumptions.