Treat Business Like Bees

Jonah Goldberg, author of Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning, explains how government efforts to "fight" business end up blurring the distinction between the two.

From National Review:

What progressives, then and now, always fail to recognize is that the more government meddles in business, the more business meddles in government. The left thinks the rational response to the bear hug that business has around government is to hug back twice as hard. The real answer is to let go, let companies sink or swim. Don’t render them “too big to fail” because they provide health care or other benefits.

All of these people who want to “crack down” on big business are simply inviting companies into the tent, giving them incentives to buy politicians, votes and policies. Yes, end the subsidies. But also stop trying to use business as government by proxy. Of course, some minimal standards of conduct need to be enforced. But beyond that, it’s better to treat business like bees. If you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you.