To: [email protected]

Subject: From a Concerned Business Woman in Ohio

Mr. President,

I’ve read your speech about business creation and I’ve listened to it and I’ve looked at it in every context you could ask me to look at it in, except the rose-colored one you seem to be seeing it in.  And you are wrong.  We built these businesses, sir.  Not the government.

I’m not sure how much American history you’ve read up on, but when the first European settlers came here, there was no government.  There were no roads.  There were no schools.  All they had with them was whatever they could carry and a work ethic to make it into enough for them and their families.  They had the foundation of the American Dream.

Through necessity, they formed contacts and connections and rules to live by which were far less oppressive than the tyranny they were living under in Europe.  They fled the monarchs and the overbearing emperors and czars who crushed their spirits and stole their work and they came here, to the wilderness of a new world, where they thrived.  Through hard work, through back breaking often deadly work, those first few created the foundation of this great nation.  If they wanted to be a blacksmith or a tailor or a shopkeeper they were free to do so.  But they had to be good at it and had to work at it because no one was there to give them a hand up.  They used what little they had and created the businesses which helped their families grow.  There were no government subsidies if they had a rough year, there were no food stamps to keep them full during the winters, there was no social security.  They worked hard for as long as they physically could and raised a family with morals that kept them going until the end of their days.  They thrived without oppressive government, but understood the value of a limited one.  And they created one.

Before the government stepped in, when they wanted to get from place to place, they built roads.  They built these paths to connect to new places so they could better their homes and lives.  When they wanted to learn, they looked to the wisest among them and paid them to use their educational talents to teach the youth of this new country.  There was no government department to take care of that.  There were only people who wanted to learn and to be educated so that they could grow and be better providers for their families.  They understood that when one man prospers, others will also.  That’s the idea behind the American Dream.  Hard work will pay off for those willing to do it.  That’s why they came here.  That’s why they started building their businesses with the sticks and rocks and earth of this new land. So they could thrive and live free among their fellow men.

When the government stepped in, where did the new roads get built? Overtop of the dirt paths carved by individuals, businessmen and traders.

Where did the government get the schools and curriculums from?  From the educated leaders who had already created them and had been teaching before the government was even formed.

Where did businesses get their start from?  From the blood, sweat, tears and dreams of the men and women who gave everything to start them.  Not from the government or anyone else.

When people saw a need they filled it.  When they needed a path between places they built it.  When they saw their young were in need of education they taught them.  The government was distant at best and people had to make do with what they had, with what they made.  But they were free to do it in America.

Settlers came here to be free from oppressive, tyrannical governments and created a system unknown in the world so that they could build their lives and businesses and thrive because of their own hard work.  Business and free enterprise built this country.  Drive and ambition paved the roads.  A desire to be greater than any other directed the education system.

So when you say, “you didn’t do that”, I say yes we did.  We, the people of the United States of America and all our ancestors, created this land by giving everything we had to be better.  We wanted better opportunities and we created them.  We wanted better lives so we grew them.  We wanted a place where our hard work would bring us prosperity and comfort so we built up the wilderness around us into flourishing metropolises overflowing with new prospects.  We built the American Dream.  We built this country.

In regards to your speech, Mr. President, you need to remove your rose-colored glasses and understand that our government did not create our businesses.  Our businesses created our government.

Sincerely,

Maggie Raffel

Daughter and Granddaughter of Businessmen and Entrepreneurs

Future Business Owner in Ohio

Citizen of the United States of America