Ben Stein Askes: "What would it take?"

Forbes Magazine ^ | Dec. 23, 2002 issue | Ben Stein

[yankeedame]

How to Ruin American Enterprise Benjamin J. Stein, 12.23.02

We're well on our way to squelching what gives this country an edge. What would it take to kill innovation altogether? --Ben Stein

As a casual observer of what makes this country work and what stops it cold, I hereby offer a few suggestions on how we can ruin American competitiveness and innovation in the course of this century. I think the reader will agree with me that we are already far down the road on many of them:

1) Allow schools to fall into useless decay. Do not teach civics or history except to describe America as a hopelessly fascistic, reactionary pit....

2) Encourage the making of laws and rules by trial lawyers and sympathetic judges, especially through class actions. Bypass the legislative mechanisms that involve elected representatives and a president. This will stop--or at least greatly slow down--innovation, as corporations and individuals hesitate to explore new ideas for fear of getting punished...

3) Create a culture that blames the other guy for everything and discourages any form of individual self-restraint or self-control...Make it a general rule that anyone with more money than a plaintiff is responsible for anything harmful that a plaintiff does. Promulgate the pitiful joke that Americans are hereby exempt from any responsibility for their own actions--so long as there are deep pockets around to be rifled.

4) Sneer at hard work and thrift. Encourage the belief that all true wealth comes from skillful manipulation and cunning, or from sudden, brilliant and lucky strokes that leave the plodding, ordinary worker and saver in the dust. Make sure that society's idols are men and women who got rich from being sexy in public or through gambling or playing tricks, not from hard work or patience....

5) Hold the managers of corporations to extremely lax standards of conduct and allow them to get off with a slap on the wrist when they betray the trust of shareholders. This will discourage thrift and investment ....while simultaneously developing that contempt for law and social standards that is the hallmark of failing nations. Hold the management of labor unions to no ethical standards.

6) While you're at it, discourage respect for law in every possible way....

7) Encourage a mass culture that spits on intelligence and study and instead elevates drug use, coolness through sex and violence, and contempt for school...

8) Mock and belittle the family...

9) Develop a suicidal immigration polcy that keeps out educated, hard working men and women from friendly nations and, instead, takes in vast numbers of angry, uneducated immigrants from nations that hate us...

10) Enact a tax system that encourages class antigonism and punishes savings...

11) Have a socialized medical system...that discourages drug companies from developing new drugs by not paying them enough to cover their costs...

12) Elevate mysticism, tribalism, shamanism and fundamentalism-- and be sure to exlude educated, hard working men and women-- to an equal status with technology in the public mind...act as if science were on an equal footing voodoo and history with ethnic fable.

My list need not end here. But I stopped at a dozen because I realized that this is already, in large measure, the program of so many of our elected represenatives. The debauchery of our tort system is already in place, and the rest of the agenda is under way.

[yankeedame]

The above is about 80% of the article. The entire article can be found on the Forbes web site ( Search> How to Ruin American Enterprise ) or in the current issue of Forbes (12/23/02)

[Falcon4.0]

I don't think old Ben Stein gets it.
To "ruin American competitiveness" is precisely the point". From the perspective of the guilty American Leftist to every other pitiful loser Country around the World.
America is number 1 and we're gonna nock'em down.

[demosthenes the elder]

Bueller... Bueller... ping!
interesting read.

[aruanan]

Use public schools to "train" minds so that they can hear what Trent Lott actually said and still be sucked in by the racist propoganda of Jesse and Al and then bloviate on FreeRepublic about how "Lott said something stupid", how "It's time for Lott to go", how "It was right for Bush to rebuke Lott", and how "The Republicans would really benefit if it were to heed the lies of the Democrats on this, act as though they were true, and get rid of Lott." And if this level of thinking is so rampant on FR, just think of how knee-jerk the U.S. population is as a whole.

[ChadGore]

bttt

[anobjectivist]

This is true and scary...

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"Make sure that society's idols are men and women who got
rich from being sexy in public or through gambling[snip]"

While I agree with every point in this well thought out article -- I wonder -- isn't WIN BEN STEIN's MONEY just part of the problem? Ben always has a "stooge" like Jimmy Kimmel who is irreverent and acts lazy and stupid to prop up Ben's ego.

Ben's show is purposely irreverent to attract young people in their late teens and twenties who have been taught to be disrespectful in school and think that is how people really act in the real world.

[DumpsterDiver]

9) Develop a suicidal immigration polcy that keeps out educated, hard working men and women from friendly nations and, instead, takes in vast numbers of angry, uneducated immigrants from nations that hate us...

Mission accomplished.

6) While you're at it, discourage respect for law in every possible way....

Start by ignoring the presence of millions of illegal aliens.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT
for
Ben

[anobjectivist]

I think he was referring to the huge amount of money Britney spears/Aguilera/Lopez, etc receive from all the teenieboppers but current scientists and engineers that contribute so much to the country are relatively underpaid and unrespected.

[republicman]

I've got one to add

13) Value "diversity" over achievement

Although, Except for perhaps one item, you could just say that whole list in one word

liberalism

[demosthenes the elder]

I would modify your addendum as follows:
13) Value arbitrary "self esteem" over meritorious achievement
14) Value "diversity" far and away more than cultural cohesion.

[error99]

bump it

[PISANO]

I will bet this weekend's morning news shows will be FULL of POLLS about this subject. What blacks say, what whites say, what gimmies say and what republicans say. This whole stupid episode just shows how far we have sunk into the PIT of Political Correctness. When a stupid racially insensitive comment RISES to and SURPASSES the LEVEL OF COVERAGE of a RAPE by a POTUS you know the Death of Common Sense has arrived.

[Lizard_King]

Last I checked, Ben's stooge was replaced with a bimbo...

But regardless, I think Ben's show is, like Jeopardy, a surprising source of knowledge. The fact that it is done with a sense of humour and self-deprecation does not remove the virtue of rewarding the knowledgeable, in my estimation.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"a surprising source of knowledge"

True, but Nancy the new bimbo on the show, shows no knowledge except of various sexual acts.

Ben talks out of both sides of his mouth -- either is part of the problem -- or part of the soultion??????

[sinclair]

"women have had a influence and not necessarily good."

If women in power here in the free world bothers you, you could immigrate to one of those Muslim countries. Problem solved for you.

[TightSqueeze]

Ben's show is purposely irreverent to attract young people in their late teens and twenties who have been taught to be disrespectful in school and think that is how people really act in the real world.

I believe you are confusing comedy with tragedy.

A-Do-What-I-Say-Not-What-I-Do BUMP!

[junta]

I don't think it is as bad as you think, in some respects. Since the campaign by angry minorities and white liberals to dehumanize whites with the perpetual propaganda campaign of "Whites are Racists, no exceptions" is on its face so repugnant most whites outside of politics tune out most of the hate and only when pressed do they recite the mantras required of them. When conservative polemicists learn that the Left holds no moral superiority and identifies the propaganda as the great hate that it is a sea change shall occur nearly overnight amongst the population.