Stossel: Government can’t solve problems alone
Television journalist John Stossel doesn’t think government can fix problems, but individuals can – at least that’s what he said in his lecture Thursday in the Eccles Conference Center.
After his lecture, during a book signing, he signed copies of his new book, “No, They Can’t.”
“The ‘No, They Can’t’ title is a response to the last election campaign and the fervor of enthusiasm of those who shouted ‘Yes we can,'” Stossel said. “And frankly, I think we can if we means individuals, and we has come to mean government. And therefore, I say, ‘No, they can’t.'”
Stossel said when 9/11 happened, people were scared and willing to give up certain freedoms to the government in hopes of more safety. He said in a crisis people’s instinct is to say, “There ought to be a law.”
The Transportation Security Administration, most recognizable for safety checks at airports, tightened up drastically as an outcome of 9/11, and Stossel said, although the government spends 10 times more on the TSA than on private security companies, it has not stopped threats to national security.
When the TSA was formed, airports were given the opportunity opt out of having TSA officers and could choose to have private companies do security checks. These private contractors, which operate under TSA rules, are also more efficient and friendly, Stossel said, referring to the San Francisco International Airport where private screeners are used instead of TSA agents.
He said in interviews with travelers in that airport, he found the lines moved quickly, the officers friendly and the checks caught more dangerous materials.
“It’s better, because you can fire (private contractors) if they’re lousy,” Stossel said. “The government never fires itself.”
Economic freedom and a rule of law are the solution to prosperity, Stossel said. Rule of law is needed to protect the safety of the people, and then the market must be free to run itself, he said.
He cited Hong Kong as an example, which was under British rulel for many years. The practice of “benign neglect” under the British caused that country to get rich, he said.
“They really had economic freedom in Hong Kong, because the British rulers kept people from killing each other or stealing from each other, punished those who did, and then, they sat around and drank tea,” Stossel said.
He said though it is not intuitive, people work problems out on their own without government regulation, and it does not require specialization.
“Free market does everything better,” Stossel said. “You don’t have to be an expert to make it work.”
The auditorium was filled with visitors and students, among them, sophomore Levi Gardner, who said though he does not agree with everything Stossel said, he found the speech insightful.
“I think he has a lot of very interesting points about keeping government small – like economic freedom,” Gardner said.
Stossel said he used to criticize business and cheer on regulation, and now he cheers on business as a Libertarian. Stossel left ABC’s 20/20 in 2009 for Fox News Network and Fox Business Network. With the release of “No, They Can’t,” he has toured around the country for speaking engagements.
Anthony Peacock, director of the Project on American Liberty and Constitutionalism and a political science professor at USU, said the project co-sponsored Stossel’s speech with the Huntsman School of Business.
Students interested in learning about subjects like Stossel’s have many chances to be involved, no matter their political affiliation, Peacock said. There are a number of internships with limited government think tanks, like the American Enterprise Institute and the Fund for American Studies, he said.
“We just want students to learn something about the founding era, about limited government and constitutionalism, about free markets – whatever their political perspective, we don’t care,” Peacock said. “As long as they come prepared to learn.”
– la.stewart@aggiemail.usu.edu