Because of the things we do together

By Richard K. Barry

How much do you suppose one of these highway systems
would cost on eBay?

Republicans love to argue that success in America is only about individual initiative. They say government should simply get out of the way. But the fact is that it is impossible to succeed without the supports that collective action provide, in other words, things only government can do.

Thus President Obama said recently that "we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because of the things we do together."

To which presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney responded, "to say something like that is not just foolishness, it’s insulting to every entrepreneur, every innovator in America." He than rattled off a list of successful businessmen including Apple's Steve Jobs, McDonald's' Ray Kroc, and Henry Ford.

To be fair, he cited the importance of the services government provides. But he also noted that they're funded by taxpayers, adding, "the taxpayers pay for government... It's not like government just provides those to all of us and we say, 'Oh, thank you government for doing those things.'"

What the hell is he talking about? Obviously taxpayers pay for the things government does on their behalf. Obviously citizens elect representatives to do the things that cannot be done by "the people" in their collective capacity. Those representatives would be the government. It's a crazy thought, but Republicans take great exception to the idea that government represents the interests and will of the people, that it is not something independent of that. They don't like the idea that government is the way we do things together. But taxes don't do anything unless someone is there to do something with the money. Again, that would be government.

The point Obama was making was that if government didn't invent the internet, Steve Jobs might not have sold many computers. If the government didn't build roads, Henry Ford might not have sold many cars. If the government didn't inspect meat, Ray Kroc might not have sold many Big Macs.

As Obama spokesperson Lis Smith put it:

As President Obama said the other day, those who start businesses succeed because of their individual initiative – their drive, hard work, and creativity. But there are critical actions we must take to support businesses and encourage new ones – that means we need the best infrastructure, a good education system, and affordable, domestic sources of clean energy. Those are investments we make not as individuals, but as Americans, and our nation benefits from them.

This is the insult that Romney sees to entrepreneurs and innovators, the suggestion that the things we do together are a necessary condition for the successes we have individually? That's the problem he sees?

Hey, I understand that Romney is playing that old right-wing game of setting up taxpayers / citizens and the government as adversaries. It just doesn't work that way. It would be like saying, "keep your government hands off my government."

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)