Barbara McRae of the Franklin Press summarized the “notable accomplishments” in Macon County for 2009. Several reflected the same weirdness local governments are practicing across the country. Of particular interest was
The Town of Franklin obtained increased funding for the Main Street-STEP (Small Town Economic Prosperity) program to support economic development for town business owners. The town also began working more closely with the county on economic development.
It would be nice if people started acknowledging that people have to work for prosperity. Charity cases aren’t sustainable. I recently visited a quaint commercial park in Novi, Michigan, where the buildings all looked like gingerbread houses, and the businesses weren’t allowed to have visible signs. Yes, it had a uniquely Novi clock tower. And yes, lots of the spaces were vacant because normal people can’t pay rent for smart-growth gingerbread facades and run a business.
Fortunately, the Main Street-STEP program is funded in part by the wealthy, wealthy state budget that needs taxes so badly the general assembly doesn’t stop short of making a laughing stock of itself. The program also receives funds from the wealthy, wealthy federal deficit and hooks people up with porkulus.
What is so aggravating is the geniuses in government do not realize that prosperity requires effort and production. Granted, marauding pirates can loot somebody else’s efforts, but the efforts had to exist in the first place. What is the rationale behind believing some authoritarian figure barking orders and taking money away from people trying to be productive produces wealth, and where, for the dozenth time, is the evidence this theory works?
