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Steinman for Governor:
Part 005, The Citizen:
By William E. Steinman:
September 18, 2006:

Last week I discussed a plan for returning Michigan to economic viability which I called the Entrepreneurial Initiative. This plan needs two things to be effective. First it needs to be implemented by our state government. If you elect me, I will do my best to make sure that part happens. However, the plan will be to no avail if the citizens do not begin to meet their responsibility. Other candidates may pander to your lower human instincts like greed and sloth, but I will not.

I will instead, demand you step up to meet your responsibility to your community, your employer, and your state. To begin that, I must address one of the most pervasive dishonesties of our time. That is the transference of personal responsibility to government. This is one of the things which came out of the new deal politics following our great depression. At that time our government began doing things for people which the people had been doing for themselves. In time, that philosophy of Big-Daddy government evolved into the cradle to grave system we have now. No one is expected to do anything for themselves. Big-Daddy does it all.

Regardless of the evolution of it, our current situation is very much a result of the selfishness, dishonesty, and laziness of the citizens. It is the private citizen who has failed. To be sure, management and government have also failed, but the citizen is the source of our government. No government can exist without the support of the citizens. Whether it be active support or tacit support by default, is irrelevant. All governments are, in final analysis, of and by the people. Politicians, even despots, are powerless without our tacit support.

I think it is time for us to admit our culpability as citizens and begin the recovery. This means moving back toward the philosophies of personal integrity and responsibility of our founders. This means making some sacrifice. It means giving up some of the plums of government largess. It is not about expediency. It is about doing what is right no matter what.

As a model, I would like to hold up our earliest citizens. I speak of those people who settled America and built this country with courage and work. Those are the people we often call peasants. Often we tend to have contempt for them. These are the settlers and workers who came to America and formed the backbone of our productive capacity. They were in fact the backbone of America in the early days when this nation was being founded. Those people had a personal ethic of personal responsibility. It is that ethic which built and made this country strong. It is that which we have lost.

The marked increase in fraud and theft are not isolated coincidence. The Enron debacle is just one conspicuous example. Dishonesty in business and leadership, public and private, is so common we have come to expect it. We have more sociopaths and psychopaths in our leadership now that the Roman Empire had during it's collapse. It is time to look at these things honestly and admit our participation. This is about personal integrity. We must, each of us, take responsibility, in our personal behavior. We must do that in the marketplace and in the voting booth. We must refuse to be irresponsible and refuse to accept it from others. We must refute this pandering to our greed and selfishness.

In voting, we should never vote for anything except the long term best interest of America. That means voting for the long term best interest of Michigan too. We should never ever vote for our pocketbook at the expense of our country or state. It is that kind of miserable shabby selfishness which got us to this chaotic state of greed driven, Washington-Lansing based politics.

When we look at a candidate for office, there is only one question we must ask. Is this person good for the community, the state, and the country? If the answer is no, we cannot vote for that person regardless of our personal interests. If we cannot hold to that principle of integrity, we are doomed. The power mongers will win and we will lose.

To be sure, no candidate I know of can satisfy that question now. The answer to all who are currently running is NO! That is why I am running myself. I will promise you nothing except my personal integrity as issues unfold. I will also demand your personal integrity. I want you to get off of your duff and start doing what you are supposed to do. I will suggest that you begin to act with honesty and courage. I will insist that you find a way to contribute.

Don't ask me what's in it for you because I don't give a damn. I only give a damn about the community. You should be asking what's in it for Michigan. Ask what you can do to make Michigan a great community, a great place to live and raise children. Ask what you can do to make sure your children and grandchildren have a good life with a fair chance at prosperity.

You workers have put yourself in the position where you are depending on someone else to do it for you. Now, I ask, what have you done to make yourself more valuable? You planned on being an auto worker for 30 years and then retiring to Easy street. You thought you could just coast through. You thought Generous Mother would be there forever, just like she was for your father and grandfather. So, you did not make any alternative plans. Now you want sympathy and help. You have heard the old saying. You can find sympathy in the dictionary. You are sure not going to get it from me. The bottom fell out of your easy life and you are going to have to scratch. So, get scratching. The golden goose is dead. We killed it. We all killed it by ignoring reality.

Don't lay it all on government and management. If they offered you honest plans which always take time to mature, you would vote against them. The rabble wants short term gratification, not reasonable plans for their children and grandchildren. One of the goals of this campaign is to demonstrate that you, the rabble, don't give a damn about you grandchildren. I am going to offer you real honest long term solutions to what's wrong in Michigan. I am showing you the plans that will work and you will laugh at me. You will say, "How will that help me?" You won't give a damn about Michigan or anything else. You will jump on the party bandwagon when they offer you short term personal gains that will go sour shortly after the election.

Ever since Jefferson, politicians have been pandering to your baser selfish self interests and you have followed them. You have acted against the long term best interests of your community and, even in this crisis, you continue to do so. If you really want a better community, city, state, or anything, you must stop doing that. You must stop asking, "What's in it for me?" and begin asking, "How will this impact the long term interests of my community and my grandchildren?" Those things are not necessarily incompatible, but the political penchant for short term fixes make them incompatible. The long haul, the hard way, the well considered long term plan will eventually be good for everyone, but we have to suck it up for the short term.

Does that make you angry? Good! Let me hear from you. Next time I will get to the issue of crime and our responsibility in that.
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