Here's something I find more than a bit baffling:
There are plenty of Americans who believe that corporations do more harm than good, and that the "profit motive" is more vice than virtue. I know that plenty of folks believe it because I used to--and because many of my friends still do.
No one expect these folks to act in strict accordance with that belief, any more than we hold anyone to all logical and behavioral implications of his or her other beliefs. So we don't ask too many questions when those who rail against corporations work for them or represent them, nor do we balk when those who challenge the profit motive nevertheless try to build a comfortable nest egg for themselves and their families.
President Obama clearly belongs to this group of Americans. He has made numerous speeches and favored numerous policies consistent with it. He has said little and done less suggestive of the position--that I and many others hold--that the introduction of "corporate personhood" was a great boon to the world, and that the profit motive bears primary responsibility for much that is good in the world. Like many anti-corporatists, he tolerates profits, corporations, and businesses. He sees a role for them--as long as they know their place and are kept on a short leash. Given a setting in which the government enables individuals to take certain actions (or even merely fails to prohibit such actions), he gives the lions share of the credit to the government. He has been pretty consistent in making these beliefs clear for at least as long as he has been in the public eye.
So here's my question: Why is it that when those of us who disagree with this position suggest that he is one of you rather than one of us, you suggest that we are taking things out of context. Is it really that repellant to believe that the President of the United States shares your views?
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