Government Largess Fuels Self-Reliance and Productivity

Republicans, and conservatives in general, live by an ideology that America's standard of living came about from Sabbath collection plates, self-reliance and hard work that unleashed the productive energies of it's inhabitants.

This ideology, as expressed by Michael Steele, simply restates the Ronald Regan trickle down concept and Rush Limbaugh demagoguery. Other media personalities, such as Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck, constantly hype conservative economic illusions and would have people believe that America is sliding towards socialism.

Certainly, hard work and perseverance has led to the Society we honor today. But, what they fail to admit is that the Nations economic engine was fueled, to a large degree by government largess and a significant redistribution of the Nations resources. .

The idea of Capitalism, without Government support, is a myth that was never the foundation of our Nations Growth. Probably the best example of the Government fueling self-reliance and productivity comes, not from eastern industrialism, but from the history of Americas western expansion.

Conservatives seem to forget that the great masses who conquered the Western territories did so only after the government made massive land purchases. The Government spend $15 million on the Louisiana Purchase (1803), and Alaska, in 1867 cost $ 7.2 million.California was ceded to the United States in 1846 following the Mexican-American War. In addition, Mexico ceded, for $18.250 million the American Southwest, and Texas to the United States in 1848 following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. It must also be remembered that the U.S. Army provided the security for those settling these lands. Of course, uninhabited land is of little productive use so the government passed the Preemption Act of 1841, the Graduation Act of 1854 and the Homestead Act of 1862 which gave away land at well below market prices.

Investing in infrastructure is nothing new. The government funded or financially guaranteed a series of canals. and funded land grant colleges for agricultural colleges. Advancing education allowed Farmers and Ranchers to build an agricultural economy. While private enterprise built nearly all the country's railroads, they did so using charters from state government that created the business corporation and gave them the limited right of eminent domain. These charters and regulations allowed railroads to buy needed land, even if the owner objected. They should also remember that it was the Eisenhower administration that championed the development of Interstate Highways which carry virtually all the goods that fuel capitalism. Of course, it was the government that provided mail services that bolstered the interconnected economy and funded the development of the the air services that move people and goods around the world every hour of every day.

Before the current infrastructures were constructed, the Nations pioneers and settlers were literally lawless until the government acted to provide law and order and a sense of community. There was little medical infrastructure in America at the beginning of the 19th century. Only a handful of medical colleges and hospitals existed, and Doctors were trained through a two-year apprenticeship without formal education requirements. As a result, disease often turned settlements into ghost towns. All this changed as Federal and State governments passed regulatory laws and provided funding.

The government develop the West in the early 20^th century by constructing dams and subsidizing huge irrigation projects. During the Great Depression, rural electrification programs brought electricity to farmers, which enabled them to use power tools, refrigeration and household appliances to make their work and personal lives easier. The government also wired the countryside for telephone service. The government saved countless small farmers by giving them loans to stall foreclosures and tide them over the rough times. And it began paying huge farming subsidies that continue to this day.

Certainly major corporation expanded the settlement of the West, but only with vast help from the government. By the turn of the century, the government had distributed a billion acres of land, but only 147 million became homesteads. Some 183 million acres were ultimately given to the railroad companies. In turn, the railroads created the logging industry and sped livestock to markets in the east. Four out of five transcontinental railroads were built in this way, and Congress approved loans up to $48,000 per mile to build them.

The West has a rich tradition of dependency on government. Success in the West was directly associated with government actions. Indeed, land rights, transportation options, economic existence, and even access to water were dependent on federal funding.

Thus it remains both a paradox and a hypocrisy to hear Republicans, conservatives, and indeed many Westerners, rant and rave about government spending and regulatory action as if it were a plague.

Certainly, Thomas Paine was right when he said that "the government is best which governs least."

But the citizens of the United States need to be realistic about the role Government plays in their lives. They need to steadfastly reject demagoguery, obvious lies and idiocy from both the talking heads and their elected and appointed officials. Failure to do so will only result in a continuing decline in our economy and turn our nation into one that is no longer respected, nor viable in an every changing world.

Sources

2008 Republican Platform at: http://www.gop.com/2008Platform/Economy.htm

National Park Service, "History online: the Ozarks," at: http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/ozar/hrs4.htm

O'Reilly, Bill, "Talking Points," at: http://factor.swiftmob.com/content.html?page=3388&content=7447201

Quote DB, "Thomas Paine," at: http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/1213

Wikipedia, "Alaska Purchase," at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_purchase

Wikipedia, "California," at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California

Wikipedia, "Interstate Highway System," at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System

Wikipedia, Land Grant Colleges," at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Grant_Colleges

Wikipedia, "List of Canals in the Unites States," at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_canals_in_the_United_States

Wikipedia, " Louisiana Purchase," at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lousiana_purchase

Wikipedia, "Michael Steele," at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Steele

Wikipedia "The Homestead Act of 1862," at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Act_of_1862

Wikipedia, "The Preemption Act of 1841," at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preemption_Act_of_1841

Wikipedia, "United States Railroads," at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_railroads

Williams, Denise, "Michael Steele's 12-Step Program," at: http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2009/03/05/michael-steeles-12-step-program/