Opinion> John Stossel> Who Is Wesley Mouch

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Who Is Wesley Mouch?

Tomorrow, my Fox Business Network show about Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged" will finally air. That should stop the emails like this one from Karen Cooper:

"Oh for the love of god! 'Atlas Shrugged' explains about 99 percent of what's wrong in all of the arenas of topics: health care, education, climate change, unions, the economy, etc. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE cover 'Atlas.'"

Cooper makes a good point. Even though Rand published "Atlas" in 1957, her descriptions of intrusive and bloated government read like today's news. The "Preservation of Livelihood Law" and "Equalization of Opportunity Law" could be Nancy Pelosi's or Harry Reid's work.

The novel's chief villain is Wesley Mouch, a bureaucrat who cripples the economy with endless regulations. This sounds familiar. Reason magazine reports that "as he looks around Washington these days," Rep. Paul Ryan "can't help but think he's seeing a lot of Wesley Mouch" (http://tinyurl.com/ye9yx8p).

Me, too. I also saw a lot of him under George W. Bush.

So I'm conducting this unscientific poll: Who is our Wesley Mouch? Hank Paulson? Tim Geithner? Barney Frank? You can vote here:

http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2009/12/31/atlas-shrugged-poll/

Personally, I think Chris Dodd's ridiculous financial proposals ought to win him the honor (http://tinyurl.com/ylggrle). But he isn't among the choices on Fox's list. As I write this, Geithner, President Obama and Barney Frank lead the voting.

My first guest on the show (FBN, 8 p.m. Eastern Thursday, repeating at 10 p.m. Friday) is BB&T Chairman and "Atlas" fan John Allison. Allison's bank, the ninth largest in America, is doing very well, but he's angry the government forced him to take TARP money (http://tinyurl.com/lguje9).

Allison once told The New York Times, "To say man is bad because he is selfish is to say it's bad because he's alive."

I'll pack the audience with some "Atlas" haters. That shouldn't be hard. My daughter's boyfriend offers up his Yale classmates. Many "liberals" agree with the "South Park" episode in which one character said that "because of this piece of s—t, I am never reading again." Rand brings out ferocious hatred in some people.

Also, I'll get a fish pedicure.

Really.

This is a dubious Turkish idea that's become popular in Asia and is now trying for a foothold (pun intended) here. Instead of scraping dead skin off their feet, people have little garra rufa fish gently chew on them.

Fourteen states have banned fish pedicures, claiming they are unsafe, and other local governments have proposed bans. OK, compared to the assault on entrepreneurship described in "Atlas Shrugged," this is sort of a dumb example, but look — I work in television — dumb examples can make good points.

The bureaucrats say the fish can't be sterilized without killing them. They say customers will get infections. People could die! It's not safe! And it's cruel to the fish!

Has anyone died? Can you refer me to someone who got an infection? Anyone? The bureaucrats' answer is always no. But it's better to be cautious, they say.

In fact, the free market sorts such things out far more efficiently than bureaucrats. It's just not good business to hurt your customers. My 30 years of consumer reporting taught me that businesses rarely do this, and — here's the market's self-regulation — those that do don't stay in business long. That's not a perfect system, but it's much better than central planning. Had today's bureaucrats been in charge decades ago, they would have banned things like aspirin, cars and airplanes.

Sadly, they are in charge now. That makes the "Atlas" message important today.

Although Rand idolizes businessman in the abstract, "Atlas Shrugged" makes clear that she (like Adam Smith) understood that they are not natural friends of free markets. They are often first in line for privileges bestowed by the state. That's called "crony capitalism," and that's what Orren Boyle practices in "Atlas." After my "Atlas Shrugged" show, I plan a show on that subject. Suggestions invited.

I don't want to be controlled by business any more than I want to be regulated by Nancy Pelosi or Wesley Mouch.

I want the freedom to make my own choices.

John Stossel is host of "Stossel" on the Fox Business Network. He's the author of "Give Me a Break" and of "Myth, Lies, and Downright Stupidity." To find out more about John Stossel, visit his site at <a href="http://www.johnstossel.com" <http://www.johnstossel.com>>johnstossel.com</a>. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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Comments

4 Comments | Post Comment

John,
I am looking forward to the show. I think the problem is crony "capitolism", not crony capitalism. Capitalism has little to do with bribing govt officials in return for special treatment/advantages/shelter FROM competition.

Comment: #1
Posted by: Jay
Wed Jan 6, 2010 9:04 AM

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Can't wait for the show. Can we have a contest to nominate Who is John Galt?

And by the way, don't ditch the audience. Give it some time and play around with the format. Let some of the audience members debate one another. Maybe have some guests do Q&A with an audience. And invite some average people - who'd otherwise be audience members - who are doing great things or have a great story to tell be a guest on occasion. Things will click and you'll find the right balance. But you're doing great, keep it up.

Comment: #2
Posted by: Liberty Chick
Wed Jan 6, 2010 9:32 AM

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John,

If you want to talk about crony capitalism, it may pay to have Burton Fulsom who wrote "The Myth of the Robber Barons" on the program. I think the key is to delineate between political entrepreneurs and market entrepreneurs.

Political entrepreneurs seek to use government decrees to profit, largely by cartelization, monopoly advantages and other barriers to entry, while market entrepreneurs generally seek to win profits in the market by merit - by producing the best product at the cheapest price.

More generally, the Mouch problem lies in the fact that while initially businessmen extol the virtues of little regulation, low barriers to entry and minimal governmental interference generally, once they become successful, out of self-interest they support any and all legislation that will cement their position in the market. They support all of those things anathema to the free market that they had used to their advantage in the first place.

This is akin to the economic plight of America as a whole. While up until the early 20th century (though some libertarians will argue that it was really only up until the time of Lincoln), America functioned under a largely laissez-faire economy, with the wealth and progress generated by this economy, we forgot about the virtues that led to our success and rewarded those tending towards failure. We created a welfare state because we had grown so rich from a relatively free state, throwing under the bus the very principles that elevated to us to our position as a great nation.

Comment: #3
Posted by: FBastiat
Wed Jan 6, 2010 5:12 PM

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John,

Terrific show! First one I watched, and it was about my favorite topic, Objectivism. You've always done a great job, but you really hit a chord with genuine Americans this time. Please, keep it up, and I'll be a regular viewer of your program here on out!

Comment: #4
Posted by: Bud
Sat Jan 9, 2010 6:41 PM

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