Main Street Republicans Are Pushovers - Granite Grok

Main Street Republicans Are Pushovers

 
The Republican Party has often been called “the party of business.” To the extent that this means low taxes, small government, and freedom to start up businesses without being strangled by bureaucracy, it is good. But that doesn’t mean that “businessmen” should run as GOP candidates. In fact, they are a very large part of why the Republican Party has repeatedly failed to stem the onrush of ever-bigger government and an ever more voracious political class.

In short, GOP businessmen are lambs. They are no match whatsoever for the politicians and political operators who control local, state, and national politics. They are clueless lambs heading for the slaughter.

The reason for this is that business people are good at starting and running businesses. They’re good at making money. But business and making money is not politics. To be good at politics, you must have knowledge. Otherwise known as an ideological underpinning. Liberals, socialists, and statists of all types have a very clear ideological foundation: It starts and ends with “government must grow larger and stronger, so that it can do more good things for more people.”

The typical businessman-candidate is woefully unprepared to argue against government doing “more good things for more people.” Why not? Government has lots of money and lots of power. It also takes just a percentage of money from everyone to do all the good things it will do for everyone? Why would anyone object? How could anyone object?

If a candidate is not deeply educated about how capitalism and freedom work, and why government cannot perform the “good things” it always promises, then he or she will be easy meat for the political Left.

There are Republican candidates running in New Hampshire right now who are perfect examples of clueless "Main Street Republicanism." I don’t want to mention any names right now. Perhaps later. But consider this: Sure he’s a businessman. Sure he’s met a payroll. Sure he’s established and grown many companies. And he’s been successful! But politically and ideologically he’s a lamb, ripe for the slaughter, easy meat for leftist-Democrats. Has he read and does he have an understanding of Hayek, Friedman, Mises, Rand, Heinlein, Bastiat, Jefferson, Madison, Roger MacBride, John Hospers, Rothbard, Nozick (only Anarchy, State, and Utopia please), Dave Bergland, David Boaz…any of them?

No, of course not. Why would he? He’s a businessman. He and many Republicans think that such a background equips him with knowledge that he can use to stand against Democrats, liberals, progressives, communists, socialists, statists, Islamofascists, eco-fascists, NAZI’s, Maoists, and lots of other America-haters. But it does not. Sorry. History shows that good and decent people like them don’t even know what to do when they get to Concord or Washington, DC. This is why so many Republicans are feckless allies of liberal Democrats.

Listen, all you Republican “business candidates.” Unless you first educate yourself, you’re all destined to do more harm than good, just like so many Republicans before you have done. So start reading.

Then demonstrate that you understand and believe in freedom, capitalism, individualism, the Declaration, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the free market.

Then demonstrate that you can defend it.

Then, and only then, might we consider voting you into office. But not before.

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