I have been fortunate enough to do business on four continents and see how great this world is. The more I travel and meet with people, the more I recognize that America is the greatest country on earth.
The majority of my international work the past few years has been in China and I had an experience there that knocked me flat. The conversation was with a young entrepreneur who was at the head of a fast growing business.
We were eating dinner at the time of the debate between the Republicans and Democrats where the topic of our healthcare in the United States was discussed (later called Obamacare). He asked me to clarify for him what the debate was about.
In as neutral of a tone and description as possible, I stated, “There are many in the United States that believes that the government is responsible and should pay for each individual’s healthcare, and there are many that believe the government is not responsible and should not be involved.”.
He looked at me with great pause and said, “In China, we believe it is the responsibility of all of us to not be a burden on the government”.
Here I was eating dinner with a card-carrying member of the local Communist Party in China and he told me that being a burden on the government goes against what the Chinese believe.
This conversation made me think about the role of government even further and how we, as American’s, can reflect on the inauguration address of JFK. We should ask ourselves if we are heeding his sage advice from so many years ago, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country”.
Wonderful points made by this man from China and from JFK. We have too many people who think that the government is there to run their lives. The opposite is true. We should be running the government instead of leaving it to a few people who stick around too long and become corrupt. Get people in and out. No to career politicians. Career politicians have realized that they can buy votes by promising more from the public treasury. We need to get people off the government teat.
Posted by Cucciolo | November 2, 2012, 3:48 pmI think I know why even a communist would think it unreasonable for the people to be a burden to their government. Could it be that the government has no money of its own? Could it be that the government must plunder resources from one party in order to give it to another party? Could it be that money borrowed in order to give it to current citizens must eventually be repaid by future citizens who didn’t benefit from the transaction? Could it be that the whole idea defies logic and reason? Thanks, Brad, and thank Red Pill for sharing this elementary truth with us.
Posted by Linus | November 2, 2012, 4:01 pmReblogged this on doakonsult and commented:
“ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country”
Posted by Raunak | November 2, 2012, 11:57 pmGiven the present economic conditions in Europe, America and above all the government-sponsored scams and loot in India, time has come to ask that nightmare of a question :
Does Democracy really work ?
I personally feel that the concept of ‘welfare-state’ is a Utopian mirage. The very champions of ‘welfare state’ – the Americans- are an example of its failure !
Posted by surindernath | November 3, 2012, 1:07 am