Mr. Brack in his last offering (March 24th) titled our Governor the "anti-Dale Carnegie." Not being a student of Mr. Carnegie and only knowing the hall and do-it-yourself audio tapes that bare the same name I had to do a bit of research. Seems Dale changed his name as a marketing ploy fromCarnagey to Carnegie to take advantage of the name recognition he would receive by grouping himself with Andrew Carnegie of which Carnegie hall is named. Andrew Carnegie was an industrialist, a self made businessman. An insanely rich man. Not Oprah money. NO. Bill Gates' kind of money. Mr. Carnegie made the majority of his money in the steel industry. What he is known for is his philanthropy. Rather, not how much money he made, but how much he GAVE away. It is this Carnegie I think our Governor should be compared to.
What? How is this? "Our Governor doesn't want to give away money!" one might say. True. But to be exact. Governor Mark Sanford doesn't want to give away YOUR money for YOU. What is more, as a conservative, he wants you to be able to amass as much wealth as you can with as little government interference as can be limited. That is why our Governor is much like the great Andrew Carnegie. He wants you to have the opportunity to follow Carnegie's Dictum on wealth: A) To spend the first third of one's life getting all the education one can.
B) To spend the next third making all the money one can. C) To spend the last third giving it all away for worthwhile causes.
I don't see the part where Carnegie suggests having your wealth arrested from you and given away to whom ever without your input or consent! Or having your business enterprise taxed into forfeiture. An especially cynical liberal might point out that it is corporate greed that has us in this fix. Not true. When companies and men have a personally satisfactory amount of wealth and a reasonable expectation that their ventures are safe, they will free up that wealth for philanthropic reasons. But, when markets are uneasy and capital is tight, expect that philanthropic spending to shrink. Not out of greed, but out of fiscal responsibility to one's own self and business ventures. In other words, if you are the decision maker for a company you have a fiscal responsibility to protect your company's assets first. Not feed the hungry. Or, teach the children. Your first duty is to the company. By being so dogged towards that company you ensure that those in the company's employ have jobs and job security. So that they may feed themselves and provide for their own children.
What a novel concept. Paying one's own way!
Governor Sanford has done us a great service by exposing the sheer lunacy that is the "stimulus" package. Creating money out of thin air or borrowing against our grandchildren is not sound business. And no person today, no matter how unemployed, is entitled to encumber the unborn with massive government debt. Not even the great all knowing all changing all hoping Obama. Mark Sanford knows this. There is no amount of personal suffering today that excuses the excesses we are about to undertake today. No child uneducated enough, no person homeless enough, no medical bill expensive enough to tax your grandchildren into governmental servitude the day they are born!
Sanford is a moral man. He has a set of core principles. Conservative principles. These principles are guiding him while times are tough and "easy fixes" are tempting. It would be great to do the "popular" thing, take the money. Great for the poll numbers AndyBrack points out. But, lucky for us, Sanford has in mind what is great for us long term. Quick fixes that ignore unintended consequences are exactly what have us in the situation now. Washington got us into this problem. Washington's bi-partisan interference in private enterprise. Coaxing companies to lend money to those who could not or would not pay it back. Big government is the problem. Always has been. Always will be. So pardon me if I side with the one public official that has a clear andun-debatable record on trying to shrink government!!!! So, Mr. Brack, will the real Carnegie please stand up?
Benjamin Parrish Cook
Mr. Cook is a self avowed Right-Wing Propagandist and Local Arms Dealer in Pageland, SC. He has a MA in International Security and Conflict Studies. You can read more of his hubris at http://arenablog.blogspot.com
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You are such an insensitive right wing whacko... don't you know how much good could be done with all that stimulus money Sanford is turning down?! He's only doing it to appeal to right wing whackos like you who want him elected in 2012... Haliburton!
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