RUST COMMENTARY: GOVERNMENT CANNOT MANAGE SOCIETY

In an interview in my Beta Gamma Sigma newsletter with management expert PETER DRUCKER, the following exchange took place:

"BSG News: One of my colleagues has remarked that most people's lives have been lived during a period of struggle between capitalism, socialism and communism. He concludes that the struggle is over and capitalism was the winner. How would you comment on that?

"Drucker: No, communism has not been defeated by capitalism. Communism defeated itself. Capitalism has not won. On the contrary, the disappearance of communism makes the challenge to capitalism much greater. Until communism collapsed, capitalism was the stronger one simply because it was the only alternative to evil. Now that evil has disappeared in the form in which it towered over the world scene since the end of World War I, capitalism has to prove itself by its own accomplishment and merits. And that, so far, it simply has not done.

"It is clear that the Free Market is the best of all ways to organize the economy. It is also clear that the Free Market can organize only the economy. Society itself is in a severe crisis in all developed countries. The alternative, for government to manage society, has been conclusively disproven. So how are we going to tackle the problems of society -- and they are profoundly different from any problems we had in the past? For the first time we have a society in which the overwhelming majority of people do not live on the land, but live in cities. For the first time in the history of the world we have a society in which the overwhelming majority of people do not make their living by doing unskilled, backbreaking, manual labor. Instead, the great majority of people in all developed countries do not work with their hands at all, and increasingly are being paid for putting knowledge to work. And, as already said, for the first time we have a society in which a greater majority of people live well beyond the natural life span, that is, well beyond the life span needed to reproduce themselves and to take care of their young. Also, for the first time in recorded history we live in a society in which knowledge is being paid, and paid very well, whereas non-knowledge increasingly is not employable."

Two points:

One, to reinforce Drucker's observation that it has been conclusively proven that government cannot manage society, a message that has NOT been understood by too many in government.

Two, though communism as a viable economic option has collapsed ... the totalitarian-government communism of China is still a threat to the free world.

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The interval between the decay of the old and the formation and establishment of the new constitutes a period of transition which must always necessarily be one of uncertainty, confusion, error and wild and fierce fanaticism. -- John C. Calhoun

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President BILL CLINTON is apparently willing to push his agenda and to establish his legacy ... even if he destroys the base of the DEMOCRATIC PARTY. Not because his positions are right or wrong ... but because he's destroyed his credibility and the TRUST FACTOR ... even by those who support his agenda.

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Washington says it is angry at the IRS for its abuses. So how did our nation's capital punish this rogue agency? By boosting the IRS's budget 10 percent -- over four times the rate of inflation. -- Steve Forbes

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CHILD CARE: When it costs as much to put your child in a care facility as you earn at work, then the economic reality as well as the social benefits to the child and family will encourage a parent to stay at home. The solution is to reduce taxes and give tax credits to parents of children ... NOT to give scholarships, subsidize day-care centers, make day-care centers of our schools etc.

Our state and federal governments do not have a shortage of tax revenue. They have a problem of trying to solve too many problems (with our money) that they are not equipped to solve, which we, the voters, could do better.

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Of Missouri's 114 counties, 52 are classified as "very rural" with less than 15,000 population. Forty-eight counties are classified "rural" with 15,000 to 50,000 in population, and 14 counties (including Cape Girardeau County) are classified as "urban" with populations of over 50,000 people. -- Dr. Robert Finley, University of Missouri.

~Gary Rust is the president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.