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The growth of world prosperity is not a 'miracle' or any of the other mystifying terms we customarily apply to countries that have succeeded economically and socially. Schools are not built, nor are incomes generated, by sheer luck, like a bolt from the blue. These things happen when people begin to think along new lines and work hard to bring their ideas to fruition. But people do that everywhere, and there is no reason why certain people in certain places during certain periods in history should be intrinsically smarter or more capable than others. What makes the difference is whether the environment permits and encourages ideas and work, or instead puts obstacles in their way. That depends on whether people are free to explore their way ahead, to own property, to invest for the long term, to conclude private agreements, and to trade with others. In short, it depends on whether or not the countries have capitalism. – Johan Norberg
The United States grew into the world's most powerful nation not because those who lived there were smarter or more capable than others. It was because the smartest and most capable people in the US were able to deploy their ideas with relatively few obstacles. In America, who you are matters less than what you do, and because traditionally the government gets out of the way, the talented may accomplish what they will.
There was much less regulation over the American past than there is today. The Progressive revolution of the first half of the 20th century burdens today's United States with far more obstacles to ideas and work than someone of the 18th or 19th century faced. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos show it is still possible for individuals to achieve great things. They are the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford of the 21st century.
We are still more capitalistic than the rest of the world, and because of that, progress — and with it, more opportunity — accelerates faster in the US than elsewhere. It may be accelerating more slowly than it might otherwise, and even a small difference in acceleration leads to a large change in position over time.
We can even see the effects within our lifetime. I've noticed it in mine, certainly. Over the last 70 years, whenever the tax and regulatory burden increased, prosperity slowed. We experienced periods of inflation linked to stagnant economic growth. Opportunities for young adults entering the workforce withered. Often those opportunities depended on who you knew and who you were rather than what you could do. Whenever the tax and regulatory burden lifted — sometimes even fractionally ¸— the economy roared ahead. Opportunities for young adults entering the workforce boomed. To be entering the workforce at that time required demonstrating what you could do.
Today we have an accelerating economy, and we also have an election approaching. The results for the latter will determine whether we continue along the path of government removing obstacles to encourage ideas and work, or instead follow the socialist path of regulation and redistribution. When you step into the voting booth, choose wisely. Your future depends upon it.
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Not really a rebuttal if you are being measured by what you do - which is what this lyric claims. "Who I am is what I do" would be a rebuttal.
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Imagine being allowed to know the price of a healthcare service before deciding whether to buy it.
Imagine not being taxed yearly by the County on unrealized gains in home value as determined by someone else's house price.
Imagine not having HOA Karens micromanage your paint in order to keep those prices as high as possible. Imagine your life choices not being dictated by people who think the monetary value of a home is all in its next hypothetical resale when all you wanted was for your monthly home payments to not all be burned on the landlord. Imagine if the Karens were not so content for us all to pay extra thousands a year in taxes on unrealized gains in the meantime.
Imagine all that not going to support failing ISDs whose very brick walls you wouldn't let your own kids touch with a ten-foot pole.
Imagine if all this weren't in relatively free Texas. Imagine if only California had these follies.
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It's a rebuttal if what you do is not who you are are.
But it's agreeing that what you do matters most.
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Along with many others, this summer I enjoyed watching videos from people (mostly western European) who came to the United States for the soccer tournament.
One of the features I noticed in many of those was how many seemed unable to wrap their minds around the American idea that (generally) if you want to try something with your money or stuff, go ahead and try it. You do not need the government's prior approval. The one that struck me funniest was a European couple touring a residential neighborhood of early 20th century houses and noting the variety of paint schemes and colors, and variety of landscaping. This couple could not believe that people could paint their houses and design their front yards as they pleased, and did not need to obtain government approval first.
Being travelers, they emphasized restaurants, which in and around the United States vary a lot in style, cuisine, ambience, etc. These travelers were impressed that if a person had a concept for a restaurant, they could just do it.
And of course, they all found the portion sizes served in American restaurants ridiculously large. Well, that's a function of American prosperity.
And of course Buc-ee's became the symbol of American excess to many of these travelers. An institution that exists only because one entrepreneurial owner of a gas station and convenience store decided, using his own money and effort, he could attract more customers if his store would have the cleanest restrooms in the category. He tried it and it worked.
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