Motivated by self-interest

Right in the middle of Cynthia Tucker’s rant on evil business and benevolent government in her essay in Tuesday’s TimesDaily comes the following little paragraph:

“The peanut fiasco, like the Wall Street meltdown, was the result of an ideology that allowed corporate America to do pretty much as it pleased. Businesses were allowed to police themselves; a laughable concept that suggests business executives are exempt from the human foibles, such as greed, that plague the rest of us.”

With a few minor changes in these two sentences, Ms. Tucker could have produced a sentiment with which I could have agreed.

The housing fiasco, like the Fannie Mae meltdown, was the result of an ideology that allowed politicians to do pretty much as they pleased. Politicians were allowed to police themselves; a laughable concept that suggests politicians are exempt from the human foibles, such as greed, that plague the rest of us.

What is really laughable is Ms. Tucker’s implied assertion that our “public servants” in Washington are not motivated by self-interest and in legislation that increases their power and glory, irrespective of its effects on the rest of us.

Barry Morris

Florence