- Some people think the Enron scandal shows that big business
is as dangerous as big government - and that Libertarians shouldn't support
big business.
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- Libertarians aren't pro-big business. We're pro-liberty.
We're pro individuals, small businesses and big businesses - anyone who
makes his living by offering his services to others on a voluntary basis.
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- And we're opposed to those who make their living by crawling
in bed with the government.
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- Fascism in America
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- Enron was a perfect example of corporate executives turning
to politicians for help. The politicians obliged. They helped subsidize
Enron and thereby made Enron less able to carry its own weight in the free
market.
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- But being a politician means never having to say you're
sorry. You don't have to say, "I never should have voted to subsidize
that ridiculous Enron project in India."
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- No, if something goes wrong it must be the fault of someone
in the private sector. After all, they're greedy businessmen and you're
a selfless public servant.
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- But the kind of corporate welfare that came Enron's way
is rampant in our economy. Subsidizing corporations has become the stock
in trade of politicians - enabling them to reward their friends and punish
their friends' competitors.
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- Of course, they don't refer to it in such crass terms.
They call it "enlightened capitalism," or "public-private
partnerships." And it is all "for your own good."
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- But as Charles Biderman said, it is "government
and big business working together for the Fatherland" - just as in
fascist Italy or Nazi Germany. It has now become as American as military
tribunals or snooping in your bank account.
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- Difference between Big Business and Big Government
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- Fortunately, no matter how big a company like Enron gets,
you don't have to deal with it - just as you don't have to deal with Microsoft
or Federal Express or General Motors. You can always say "no"
to big business - so long as government doesn't force you to buy.
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- Unfortunately, you don't have such a choice with Social
Security or anything else the politicians compel you to buy "for your
own good."
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- That's the difference between big business and big government
- the freedom to say "no" to one and the inability to resist
the compulsion of the other. When big business (or anyone) crosses the
line and enlists the government to impose its way, it is no longer a business
- it becomes an adjunct of the coercive government.
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- Who was hurt?
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- The only significant losers in the Enron scandal are
the employees. In some cases, losing their jobs was a minor tragedy.
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- But losing their pension funds was even more than a tragedy,
it was a crime - a crime caused by the income tax. If it weren't for the
income tax, the pension money wouldn't have been controlled by irresponsible
managers.
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- Employers don't pay employees the full value of their
services because whatever they pay is taxed immediately - and any gains
from investing the money are taxed each year. So an employer puts some
of the employee's earnings in an employee pension plan - where it isn't
taxed and where it can be invested and grow tax-free.
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- With the pension money in the employer's hands, the employee
has little control over it. He usually can't diversify in any meaningful
way to assure that no single event could be fatal. And he becomes vulnerable
to someone else's incompetence or dishonesty.
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- But, of course, the income tax and corporate welfare
and the $2 trillion government are all there "for your own good."
So shut up and go back to work.
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- What you should have
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- But we shouldn't shut up. We shouldn't stand for this.
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- I want an America where you keep all of the 15 percent
you're paying now to Social Security - and do with it as you think best
"for your own good." If you did nothing more than put 5 percent
to 10 percent of your earnings in savings accounts split between two or
three banks, it would be far more productive than in Social Security.
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- I want an America where government is so small that you
pay no income tax at all, so that every dollar you make is yours to keep
- to spend, to save, to give away as you see fit.
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- I want you to be able to afford to put your children
in the best private schools, to go into business for yourself if you want,
to support your favorite church or charity on a scale you've never been
able to afford before.
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- But none of that is possible so long as we tolerate the
idea that people like Teddy Kennedy, George W. Bush, John McCain, or Tom
Daschle know what's best "for your own good."
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- The true meaning of the Enron scandal is that government
doesn't work. And we need to reduce it to the absolute minimum possible.
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- We need to get government out of your life and set you
free to take care of your own good.
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- ___
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- Harry Browne is the director of public policy at the
American Liberty Foundation.
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- You can read more of his articles and find out about
his network radio show at http://www.harrybrowne.org
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