In a comment to this post on Congress’s penchant for sucking on consumers’ teats, trumpit says to me:
You amaze me! You loathe the venal pols, yet you give a free pass to
the loathsome, greedy corporations who really control the government.
That is a one-sided and naive viewpoint.
I do not give a free pass to the loathsome, greedy corporations. Rent-seekers who use the state to enrich themselves at others expense sicken me.
As for the emphasis in my original blog post, Russ Roberts and I agree that, while it’s true that rent-seeking private parties are just as predatory as are the goons they hire to do their actual predation, everyone understands that private business people are in business primarily to earn a living. No one presumes that business people are motivated chiefly by altruistic, other-regarding motives; business people don’t seriously pose as saints who sacrifice their personal interests in order to promote those of the public; no one calls business people "public servants"; no CEO of a corporation sports the title "Hon."
Politicians, in contrast, do pose as public servants — as special people who routinely sacrifice their own personal well-being for the larger cause of the greater good. They are called "public servants."
To point out that a lion has sharp teeth is rather pointless; to point out that the lamb is really a lion in disguise is more useful.
