We often hear a politician praised for how much good he or she has done for the world. For example, a politician is praised for increasing the gas mileage on the average car to 40 mpg.
He has done no such thing. What he DID do was write a document instructing car manufacturers to build a machine that burns only one gallon of gas for every 40 miles it travels. This document contains the real or implied threat that if they fail to build such a machine, the government will halt their ability to do business, whether or not consumers are interested in buying the machine.
The car manufacturer, threatened at gunpoint (for how else does government follow through on its threats?), does the research, designs and builds the vehicle – or it goes out of business – or it moves its manufacturing to another country where the government threats are not as onerous.
The heavy lifting of research and production was done by the targeted business and industry. All the politician did was bare his teeth and dictate. Oh, the bullying is couched in poetic words about a vision of the future, creating a better world for our children, or some such. Don’t be fooled by the poetry: The politician points the gun, and the business person complies or dies.
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