Letter: Politicians create ignorance

The statement, “Elect me and I’ll create jobs,”by anyone seeking public office in no matter what level of government is either pandering to economic ignorance or is ignorant themselves and, I do not mean ignorance in any way other than the lack of knowledge and/or understanding in what is a self-generating, self-sustaining job that expands the economy and benefits society at all of its levels. Only the private sector can create these types of jobs.

Government cannot create a job; it can only create burdens on those that do create jobs and those who have them. Government can create a new department or agency with a whole new set of rules and regulations to abide by and of course create new forms for those they represent to fill out and process and yes hire people to do the tasks needed to fulfill its purpose. But is this job creation? No, it is not because these imposed tasks, no matter how noble the intentions were in creating them, are nothing more than a burden. Since these departments and agencies create nothing marketable they have to rely totally on those who have private sector jobs for their budgets. I’ve heard the argument, “public workers pay taxes too,” and yes they do but it’s all recycled tax dollars.

Government pays its workers with tax dollars and then turns right around and collects a portion of it back. How does that movement of tax dollars expand the economy? It does not. Yes they buy things and products move, but that purchasing had to first be taken from someone else. Now don’t get me wrong, some government actions do provide vital, good and necessary services such as police, fire, EMS and trash collection we should pay for, but most of the actions at all levels of government are nothing more than at its best a burden and at its worst a torment to those that are forced to foot the bill.

Private sector jobs on the other hand must create and offer a good or service and compete for the voluntary participation of those in society to make a profit to pay those involved in the activity. As more goods and services are sold, more tasks are needed for which more people are employed and profit. Private activity has a positive effect on the economy and benefits all of society. Government activities are not voluntary, they are forced and have the opposite effect on the economy whether necessary or not.

Politicians can only create an environment for lasting private sector growth by getting out of our way and let us create. Unshackle us and be amazed once again at what freedom can accomplish.

Stephen Cambre

field manager

Clinton

Comments

1) Comment by Scrooge - 10/05/2012

Triple, allow me to return a compliment I don't deserve, I just am compelled to speak up , but often, your mitigating presence has certainly toned down my pretense and made me more careful to be reflective and self-critical before I post. Thank you. PS I do believe we do have one common aim, the betterment of Louisiana and greater humankind, though the perception of method may differ. I commend your efforts and musings as well.

2) Comment by Triple - 09/05/2012

@ beabea,  Scrooge and I have bantered off and on for many months.  In my opinion he has a tremendous intellect and a modern day philosopher, a cynic in the mold of Diogenes, but I suspect he keeps his clothe on in public!  We don't always agree, but his postings are thought provoking.  Thank you for being engaged, I look forward to your future postings. Regards.

3) Comment by beabea - 09/05/2012

@Triple: Re-reading my comments below, and reflecting on others I have written, I can now see the tone of superiority of which I was not consciously aware at the time I wrote them. I have benefitted from you bringing that to my attention. Thank you.

4) Comment by Triple - 09/05/2012

Scrooge, I suspect the writer (Field Manager) and Farmer are one in the same and with no colleagues at his defense, he was compelled to post a rebuttal.  His tone of superiority is matched by beabea also not included in a standard deviation of humility.  As you know, the bell has two ends, betting on snake eyes or box cars carries the same odds.

5) Comment by Scrooge - 08/05/2012

Mr. Farmer does state one truth that is keeping America "destine (sic) to fail" "To see in black and white" is absolutely the major part of the problems, things are really not so bad (just ask Jindal) but in order to justify the myth, they have to be made so. As Bighug astutely noted, Mr. Farmer also demonstrates the "failure of government jobs, assuming he learned to write in a public school." Why is the propaganda so appealing and believed by the bell curvers? Is it mental laziness, a laziness which has plagued their entire lives? These are the same mediocrities who evidently consider themselves quite superior, wallowing in their superior mediocrity.

6) Comment by DMJ - 08/05/2012

"Only government can give one happiness." I don't know of a single person in the world who actually thinks this. No one thinks this...obviously. This is what happens when, instead of actually learning what liberals think by talking to them, you let Fox News and Rush Limbaugh tell you what liberals think. Enough with the childish, cartoonish hyperbolic distortions of others' points of view already! Talk about being juvenile and exuding no thought. Jesus Harry Christ!

7) Comment by Farmer - 08/05/2012

It's no wonder this country is in the mess it is in with the responses to this letter. These responses are juvenile and exude no thought what so ever. It is amazing how someone can read something and not comprehend what they read. To be so blinded by ones ideology that believes that only government can give one happiness. That only government can provide substance and meaning to life. The lack of thought and reasoning in these responses is heartbreaking. To see in black and white how far this country has fallen when they accept the notion that they can not do anything for themselves. Deregulation did not cause the financial problems this country suffer from. It was government interfering in in the housing sector by forcing banks to lend to people that could not afford to by a home. These loan defaults made the assets worthless and toxic so get your facts straight. If this kind of thinking represents America than we are destine to fail. Strap in for we are in for a hard ride.

8) Comment by DMJ - 08/05/2012

Deregulation caused the recession. The recession is causing the loss of jobs, including more than 1/2 a million public sector jobs. The government "got out of the way" and the good capitalists tanked the economy. Someone has been living in an alternate reality, fueled by information from Fox News. It's sad, really....when we can't even agree on facts anymore.

9) Comment by DMJ - 08/05/2012

Ignorant letter. Who says the Advocate is biased? They print smart letters and stupid ones. see above...

10) Comment by AKA - 08/05/2012

I mean, this guy really has a flair for the dramatic.

11) Comment by AKA - 08/05/2012

burden, torment, unshackle--America, love it or leave it.

12) Comment by Bighug - 08/05/2012

Mr. Cambre makes a good point with his letter about the failure of government jobs, assuming he learned to write in a public school.

13) Comment by gary - 08/05/2012

Wow! Glad President Dwight Eishower didn't take this view back in the 50's - if he did, there would zero interstates across the U.S.

14) Comment by beabea - 07/05/2012

@gvm: Agree. And I can hardly think of a better example of the exploitation of ignorance, than politicians selling the idea that cutting government spending in a weak economy will "create confidence" and that will, somehow, magically create jobs. If more people had a grasp of basic economics (and of our own recent history), that idea would be rightfully laughed off as nonsense. But for those not inclined to make that effort, all they really have to do is look across the pond to see what austerity has accomplished in Europe: economic stagnation and a double-dip recession in Britain.

15) Comment by gvm - 07/05/2012

Actually, I think politicians exploit ignorance. Unfortunately, due to the deliberate dismantling of public education, I think it's only going to get worse. Perhaps that's the idea.

16) Comment by beabea - 07/05/2012

Mr. Cambre also apparently subscribes to the belief that the only worthy economic activity is that which makes a profit. However, the reason why some things are better done by the government is that not everything that serves the public good, can or should be a profit-making enterprise. For example: roads, bridges, and transportation. Important to have but probably not very profitable. Does that make them unworthy or something to be gotten rid of? How about prisons--is it really a good idea for someone to be making money off of people being locked up? And the big one: health care. Unlike elsewhere in the industrial world, health care in the United States is a profit-making enterprise. The result? We have the world's most expensive health care, with worse outcomes than in many countries where people buy their health insurance from the government. I would suggest that far from being desirable, the idea that everything has be done for profit, is actually at the root of many of our problems today.

17) Comment by beabea - 07/05/2012

Mr. Cambre writes: "Government pays its workers with tax dollars and then turns right around and collects a portion of it back. How does that movement of tax dollars expand the economy? It does not. Yes they buy things and products move, but that purchasing had to first be taken from someone else." What a load of nonsense. However, let's credit Mr. Cambre with at least recognizing the absurdity of the second-to-last sentence in that quote, when he immediately contradicts himself in the next sentence. And where is the private business owner who cares whether his customer's dollar came from a private-sector job or a government job? And what about the private-sector employee's dollar? Didn't it have to be "taken" from his employer? Do you mean to imply that private-sector employers pay people voluntarily? Unbelievable. I'll close with another fun fact: most of the job creation during the GW Bush administration was...wait for it...government jobs. Most of the job creation during the Obama administration has been in the private sector. The big cuts to government employment (teachers, etc.) is why the unemployment rate remains high and the economy sluggish. All those less-than-worthy (in Mr. Cambre's opinion) dollars from someone's (former) government job now no longer available to be spent.

18) Comment by Scrooge - 07/05/2012

Someone should tell Jindal about this, isn't his major platform the jobs he claims to have created? Mr. Cambre decries government on a medium, the internet, the evolution of ARPANET, which was a wholly government funded enterprise at its inception. Sure created a lot of jobs, though, didn't it? "be amazed once again at what freedom can accomplish" once again? where in history was this true?? The wild west? The emasculation of regulation is what created this economic mess. The simplicity of this mindset is nice, however it never was so and can never be. However, Mr. Cambre may win a Nobel Peace prize by being outstanding in his field, especially if he stands out there long enough. Nothing but a tired rehash of Ayn Rand objectivist arguments filtered and dumbed down into 10 second text bytes from already dumbed down propagandist media, mainly to exploit the masses for the benefit of billionaires. It government were such a burden and were intended to be so inconsequential, one wonders why they bothered in 1776? Didn't they have better things to do? Unfortunately, the tendency of human beings to exploit other human beings necessitates a sovereign government and laws, history is rife with examples of unfettered monopolies and sheer exploitation. Wherever heaven is, it ain't in this world, private or public.