Obama on Entrepreneurs and Innovation

While I hardly believe one person is responsible for the success or failure of collective economics, especially on a national or international level, US president Barack Obama is so misinformed (or willfully ignorant) of economic principles that he actually believes innovation comes not from entrepreneurs, but from government intervention.

President Obama said in a speech at the weekend that governments and not individuals create jobs, telling entrepreneurs: 'If you've got a business - you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.'

He added: 'You didn't get there on your own. I'm always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart.'

The inflammatory campaign speech comments underline the extent to which Obama believes that the state rather than ordinary citizens create jobs and wealth. 

Obama says the wealthy AREN'T responsible for their own success ... 

If you have a great idea, invest your time and resources into that idea, and you succeed, I believe that you are responsible for your success and deserve whatever profits or acknowledgement you receive, not the government. The state and it's interventionist policies, regulations, and ever-increasing taxation stifles innovation, impedes entrepreneurs, and holds back advancement, preventing any benefit or social good.

Obama's criticism of Romney (I honestly can't tell much difference between Obamney) and capital investment firms is misplaced. Without firms such as Bain, companies like Howard Johnson, where Obama fondly recalls childhood family memories, would have faded into history during the Great Depression.

“Entrepreneurs embody the promise of America: the idea that if you have a good idea and are willing to work hard and see it through, you can succeed in this country. And in fulfilling this promise, entrepreneurs also play a critical role in expanding our economy and creating jobs.” – President Barack Obama, January 31, 2011

I am having a hard time keeping up with the flip-flops from the Obama regime. The level of narcissism Obama maintains is nearly a psychological issue. If he believe half of what he claims, he is mentally unfit for public office. If he is simply a mouthpiece, reading speeches tailored for him, he is the puppet many claim. And we have a long line of potential replacements willing to tow the same line.

The regime wants to control and manage the entrepreneurial spirit, which is a statist goal.

The recent White House announcement of a new government program to promote entrepreneurship must signify that the Obama Administration finally “gets it” about job creation and economic recovery, right? Certainly free-market conservatives can agree with the President’s inspiring words. But … 

The regime wants to have the final word on what will be allowed in the market and what will be suppressed. This is not innovation, but interventionism, which is known instead for destroying innovation. Big surprise there.

The problems, as always, emerge in the details of the program. This “coordinated public/private effort” appears to be just another head-fake in the direction of capitalism with the intention of growing more government.

Obama's “Start-Up America” Initiative: Stalling Entrepreneurs

We do not have true capitalism, and have not for maybe a century or more. True innovation thrives without regulation and governmental burden, not under it's thumb and seeking it's approval. What we have is state-capitalism (it's no big secret, even the Economist understands this), with it's complex system of regulations, it's involuntary and intrusive taxation system for redistributing wealth from those who produce to those who do not. While many establishment supporters claim capitalism is the cause of our economic woes, they are at least correct about the methods, if not the name itself.

America saw free markets in the Not So Wild, Wild West, where government was absent until the turn of the twentieth century. Property rights were maintained, entrepreneurs thrived, society benefited, jobs grew, taxation did not yet exist before the government saw an opportunity to feed. Once the state stepped in, all that changed, just as it has changed across the world as the interventionism and it's proponents intervene and claim that they are the reason for the success of others, despite being an obstacle rather than a support system.