Big Business & You

Upon opening the morning paper today, I was treated to this story about the president's desire to enact tougher restrictions on credit card companies, limiting their ability to alter their rates as they see fit.

As I drank my tea and absorbed the story, it occurred to me that there always seems to be a lot of anger directed, particularly from the left, at the biggest cogs in the wheel that is our society. To those that are fed up with credit card companies, I would like to pose the following question: what if they are fed up with you as well?

What if, in response to the flood of anger and intrusive government regulation constantly flung their way, Visa, Mastercard and American Express just decided to throw in the towel? It is important to remember that these companies are providing a service. They are under absolutely no obligation to give any of us lines of credit, without which most of us would not be able to buy houses and cars. So suppose that one day they simply stop. Can you even begin to imagine the devastating impact to society that would result from such a move?

Consider another target of unrelenting hatred: pharmaceutical companies. These nice folks spend millions of dollars in research to provide us with life saving miracle drugs. No one is forcing them to do this. They could just as well let us all die if they so choose, but they don't. Imagine a world where, due to overregulation, overtaxation and perpetual public vitriol, they abandoned their trade to sell vacuums. I don't think any one who has ever had a seriously ill friend or relative would relish such a scenario.

Yet, do we fall to our knees and thank these giants of industry who so vastly enrich and lengthen our lives? No. To the contrary, we do everything in our power to punish these brave men and women for the incalculable good they have wrought.

So the next time you make a charge on your credit card, refill your gas tank or take an Advil to relieve a headache, stop a moment and think about who is responsible for such conveniences. It would behoove us all to remember who provides us with the amenities of modern life: Hard working private citizens, not the federal government.