Ronald McSocialist

Taxpayers built McDonald's. 

Wait, what?  Yeah, they did.  

It's true that a large portion of their success was due to pioneering fast food innovations that helped keep products consistent and costs low. 

But their biggest key to success was the nation's brand new interstate highway system. 

No matter where you went, a McDonald's burger tasted the same.  No matter where those Golden Arches were, you always knew exactly what to expect. 

It was a safety net for your new-found freedom to explore.

Starbucks is the same for me.  I don't go there because it's good - I go there because I know I'll find the same menu items and a relatively clean bathroom (compared to many places - especially mini marts and most fast food places). 

So while we can admire the innovations that helped build their empire, McDonald's is just one more example of how industries don't survive on hard work and moxy alone. 

The taxpayers are always there in the background setting the stage for the corporation's success.

Popular posts from this blog

Good Faith

Of all the things to repair in this country, good faith is the most important. Good faith is the guiding principle lacking in so many of our complaints.   The endless cries for bipartisanship, and the folks reminding us how politicians on opposite sides of the aisle used to always find ways to argue angrily and then go out for drinks together - they're really mourning the loss of good faith. Good faith is the sincere desire to succeed together.   I want to succeed this way, and you want to succeed that way, but we both plan to share the rewards of that success. In other words, I want to do what I believe is best for everyone, and you want to do what is best for everyone.   We just have different ideas of how to do it.   No matter how much we disagree, we still want the other side to share in the rewards with us. That is what has been missing.   And the lack of it has been rotting us from our core.   Think about how prosecuting an...
Read more

ABOUT THIS BLOG - PLEASE READ

This is not your typical blog.   It will be more like a library of my past work, and I will not be creating new content often.    Apparently there's a difference between "pages" (individually listed at the top and sidebar) and "posts" (an ongoing stream of new items on the home page - you can tell I'm old, can't you). Most items will be on separate pages.   The post on Good Faith is seminal, so it will probably be my only other post until I figure out how to use all the controls.     Friends and family repeatedly encouraged me to publish the essays I’ve written over the last few decades.   If even a single reader finds them useful, this will have been worthwhile.   You may be wondering who I am, and what my bona fides are.   The fact that I italicized “ bona fide ” may give a tiny clue.   However, I must remain anonymous.   I am a polarizing person.   I distract from my own message.   Ideas can’t come from ...
Read more