"You Didn't Build That" Continued...

The president is right that we have inherited an "unbelievable American system," but he totally misunderstands what its basis is. It is not government, particularly all that the government chooses to do today. It is the social coordination and wealth made possible by keeping most things off limits from government meddling and extortion. And that incomparable social inheritance from reining in government that Americans enjoy cannot justify undermining that success for us and our future by expanding government further, which is the non sequitur conclusion the president reaches.

President Obama's "you didn't make that happen" comment has been twisted by some. However, without any such twisting, his words reflect both a misunderstanding of and a threat to what has made America great. He has forgotten what Albert Jay Nock observed long ago:

It is a curious anomaly. State power has an unbroken record of inability to do anything efficiently, economically, disinterestedly or honestly; yet when the slightest dissatisfaction arises over any exercise of social power, the aid of the agent least qualified to give aid is immediately called for.

Gary M. Galles is a professor of economics at Pepperdine University - Ludwig Von Mises Instutite - Click To Read More...