I started Mitt Romney's No Apology: Believe in America.
In
my latest reading, Romney argued that free enterprise has made the
United States the most prosperous nation in the world, and that
countries with free enterprise are usually more prosperous than those in
which the government has a heavy hand in the economy. Romney
acknowledges some nuance, though. He says that many Western Europeans
are satisfied with their system of government benefits, but he questions
whether that system will always work and notes that Western European
nations are moving towards the principles of American free enterprise.
And Romney says that China has free enterprise, and that its businesses
are free from regulations that are actually important----regulations
that pertain to health, safety, and other concerns. But Romney also
states that China's system of free enterprise is directed by an
authoritarian system. Romney still believes that China's system is
effective and that China may become more powerful than the U.S., but
Romney speculates that there may come a point where China will embrace
democracy.
Romney also contends that the United States, whatever
its mistakes, has been a positive presence in the world, which has
prevented belligerent nations from getting out of hand. And Romney
quotes Israeli Shimon Peres' statement that the U.S., unlike many other
nations, does not take over land when it wins a war.
I
agree with Romney that many Americans have a high standard of living. I
tend to envy, though, the economic security of people in Canada and
Europe, who live in systems that have universal health care. But are
these nations supported, at least in part, by the productivity of the
United States? Do we, in some sense, contribute to the prosperity that
helps them to have universal health care? I hope that we can have our
cake and eat it, too----that we can have the productivity that results
from American capitalism and entrepreneurship, and a universal health
care system that keeps people from being bankrupted due to high health
care costs.
Regarding America's presence in the world, Romney
is probably right that we don't take land. But critics from the right
and the left have contended that the U.S. has exploited the resources of
other nations, or has intervened in them (often secretly) for its own
economic interests.
My favorite part of my latest reading was
Romney's story of how his father gave his kids chores to do because the
family was prosperous, and George Romney wanted his kids to learn the
value of hard work. And, when George became more prosperous, he gave
his kids more chores!