In the movie, No They Can’t, John Stossel explains, rather strongly, his view on the government vs. free people in a free market. He brought up many points that I didn’t give much thought to, let alone know, before. From restrictions put on business to the, some might say, violating the TSA; Stossel makes very valid points that would get anyone thinking.

I know that our country has the ugly habit of spending money that we don’t have, but when Stossel gave specific examples of this, it became that much clearer to me. The government keeps saying that it wants to create more jobs, yet it continues to make it much more difficult for business owners to hire people, let alone keep their business up and running. But studies show that businesses that test different fixes and possibilities have found much more success. When there is competition for something, people have more of a drive to not just find a quick fix, but a long term fix.

When the oil spill happened in 2010, X Prize Foundation created their own competition for anyone to find a resolution to the problem. The foundation received many different individuals’ fixes to the problem, some that didn’t work great, but others that did do a great job. If they had just picked one individual or business to find a fix for the issue to begin with, I’m willing to bet they wouldn’t find an equally effective idea.

That’s the great thing about competition, there’s suspense. Without that, whether people are consciously aware of it or not, they don’t do their absolute best. Because after all, what would the point be? Why would they, if they already have the job in the bag.

Another point that I hadn’t thought much about, were the immense amount of regulations that are enforced on businesses. Small businesses do all they can to continue to thrive and provide jobs, but with all the regulations it makes it near impossible to do so. The regulations range from having round door knobs to the height of mirrors. Sure these regulations may sound small, but when you have a huge book of both big and small regulations, they begin to add up. With all the changes that need to be made to make sure that there aren’t any violations to the regulations, businesses end up struggling and more times than not it leads to them closing. So how is it right that the Government is saying it’s just as much disgusted with the growing unemployment rate as we are, when they themselves are some of the biggest contributors to this statistic.

The government is by no means the only reason that this statistic is the way that it is, but they are largely to blame. The combination of incredible spending and the regulations that are setting our small businesses up to fail, are both examples of why. At this point, this wonderful country’s economy is in a vicious cycle that’s sending us into a whirlwind. I’ve heard people say that over and over, but now that I’m getting ready to enter the real world on my own, I’m beginning to see how it’s already beginning to affect me and my generation and those that follow.

The government as a whole has become a group of people that share the same interests--spending the people of our country’s money. Money we don’t even have is being spent. They may not want to set us up for failure, but they are. We are already in serious debt, and the hole we’re digging ourselves in isn’t getting any smaller.

After seeing the movie, I feel like I have a much greater understanding of what really is going on in our country. I know there are always two sides to the story, but the information that I have learned has really got me thinking. It’s got me thinking about just how bad our country’s economical state needs some serious improvement.