The Myth of "Running It Like a Business"

The Myth of "Running It Like a Business"

Summary:
The phrase run it like a business is too often used to describe the way some people think the US government should be run. The fact is that there are vast differences between running a business and running a government. the phrase makes a great soundbite but is a woefully inadequate way to promote governmental fiscal responsibility.

We Hear it all the time and more from the right side of the aisle than the left; "the government needs to be run like a business", "I can't run my business like the government", "Why can't we run the government like a business?". In my younger days I would agree fully with the notion that business is a good model for fiscal responsibility in the government. After the eye opening spotlight that has been shed on the role of government in our economy recently, I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to "run the Government like a business".

Let us start with the purpose of a Government and a Business. Our (US) government exists to enable its citizens to pursue their rights. Rights such as Life, Liberty and Happiness. Our founding fathers were very careful about this distinction. The Declaration of Independence is an amazing document. It is focused on the citizenry and defines the reason for a government to exist. That reason is not to make money. the US government from its infancy was created to protect the rights of the citizenry.

In opposition to this the sole purpose of a businesses is to make money. Some would argue this point as not being fulfilling or lacking depth of reason. Unfortunately, the one thing necessary to operate a business is income. You may like the work that comes with that chosen business but the fact remains that without income you have no business. Without income it is only work. If you are doing that work for someone else then it isn't business it is charity.

My point here is that while it is possible to practice fiscal responsibility when running a government that same fiscal responsibility cannot be a driving factor for the government. When that rationale or ideology takes over a government what we see is the erosion of what we in the US call our civil liberties. Or "unalienable rights" to quote the Declaration of Independence.

That is not to say that Fiscal Responsibility should be left out of government. It is necessary to the to achieve the goals of a government. If you can't run your government within the limits of available tax income then something needs to give. In the US this is a key debate being waged daily but based in two ideologies that are neither adequate to the goals of the state nor balanced by each other. Those ideologies being Liberalism and Conservative-ism.

This is also the reason why a two party system is so frustrating to many Americans. Many of us fall in the middle leaning to one side or another but hardly ever straddling both inexorably. As of late, I find that I am more apt to fall on the conservative side but with definite left leaning views on some subjects. For me making value based decisions is more justified than sticking to an ideology. Don't throw out conventional wisdom but put it in it's valued place in your decision making process. Our governmental decision making process is to debate. This at time exacerbates the ideological wars raging throughout the country but it's what makes us who we are.

So then, stating that the government should be run like a business is fully inadequate to the informed discourse needed to come to the best method for enabling the citizenry. The argument must contain both the methods for insuring fiscal responsibility and the limits to which the government should intrude upon the lives of it's citizens, in the form of taxes in this case.

One of the most valuable lessons I have learned from my father was the importance of truth. Not absolute truth but the strength to tell the truth even when it doesn't fit your impetus. I tend to call this transparency or the need for transparency in government. transparency insures that your decision making is held up before a higher, more populated audience. when decisons are made in back rooms it is necessary that those decisions be based not as much in ideology as in known fact. When they are made off the cuff they need to be defendable which most times they are not.

While not every decision the government makes needs to be scrutinized to the enth degree there are those that do. If a comittee makes a decision those hearing need to include as much informed discourse as is needed to reatain an arguable defense of the decision. I am afraid that most of the US citezenry does not believe or trust their elected officials enough to believe they are making their decisions based in informed discourse. The media portrays every argument given as a left or right argument instead of just an argument exacerbating the already dubious feelings the citizenry has towards their elected officials.

So then how do we handle this quandry of fact versus fantasy, of touchy feely versus hardlined minimalism, of guidance versus entitlement, and of conservative versus liberal. We tlak it out. We argue until the facts and best method of operation are found out. We Perry Mason it like old "Iron Sides" would have done. We make value based decison given the temperament of the public which we serve. I say we because everyone who votes serves the public interest and direct the conversation. That may be a bit optomistic but that doesn't bother me. Without hope and the willingness to disagree we wouldn't have a country that cotinually sets the standard for the way other operate. (yes, I'm a proud US citizen)

So please, the next time a politician says we need to run it like a business ask them which part of that business. Because frankly, if the government is a business it is the only one that CANNOT fail without the destruction of a country. So senator, congressman, or representative, do you feel we should let the governement fail if your "running it like a business" fails? I think not. Let's just use a combination of those best know management methods and transparency to create a lean and enableing government that will be the example for the rest of the world instead of just another failed business.

I'm still working the finer points of these arguments so if someone opposes this please let me know. Informed discourse is necessary to a democracy as well as a fulfilling intellectual life.

TL Owens