In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we’ve been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price.
–President Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address,
January 20, 1981
January 20, 1981
Yea … but Ronnie had no problem with one group being singled out to receive greater gain did he?
He was an originalist.
Just as the founding fathers granted rights to only white Euro-male landowners, the social elite of the 1700′s, so Reagan granted economic and political benefits to only the social elites of our time.
At his innaugeral address in January of 1981, Pres. Reagan asked the question “who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?”
I think this was in humble response to his newly acquired office. Prior to this time, Ronald Reagan was a movie star. Now he was facing America as the one in charge of our protection and welfare. We were looking to him for answers. He was feeling the reality of the moment.
Actually, prior to his becoming President, Reagan had been the governor of California for eight years.
I used to believe the government is the problem not the solution mantra – until it appears that lack of govenment oversite was the problem in Enron, Worldcom, etc. Now I heard a report on NPR that seems to indicate that the mortgage/housing crisis is a direct result of lack of government oversite of that industry. Apparently, everybody was lying to everyone else, from the borrowers to the banks, to the Wall Street types, because nobody thought that they would get caught. Looks like sometimes the government is the solution, not the problem.