It's Not About Oil, and It's Not About the Gondola

By Dian Woodhouse
Standard-Examiner Guest Commentary
Originally published "web only" Saturday, April 8, 2006

Every once in awhile, both in the lives of individuals and in the lives of the social structures we as individuals have created, it is necessary to take a step back and look at the basic premises under which we are operating. This is part of the process we call maturity.

We in America have been called a "young country," but youth, as we all know, does not last forever, and we are currently facing quite a few things that should be examined, and probably revised.

We hear from many people both in government and in the private sector, for instance, that it is vital that we as a nation "protect our interests overseas." This point of view, widely held though it may be, is a flawed one if protecting our interests means waging war against another nation solely because certain American corporate interests there are being threatened, or because, as many have insinuated about our current war, of the price of oil.

It is flawed because the United States government was not created to enrich either itself or certain favored corporate entities. The government was created to govern. And the concept of government does not include taking part in business, or, worse yet, becoming a business.

Yet we hear that, too. That government nowadays must be run like a business, because it has its hand in so many projects partially backed by private enterprise. Government involvement in private projects is certainly evident in America today, but is this involvement right, or ethical, or the correct role of American government? I would say no.

Here in Ogden, for instance, we have been for the past few years reading articles in the local media and seeing TV news stories about how Ogden is going ahead full bore to become a ski town. The relocation of ski companies to the area has been widely publicized, and the plans for a resort in Malan's Basin and an accompanying gondola have been reported upon and publicly endorsed by the mayor. This publicity campaign is exactly what a private entrepreneur who owned an entire town and wished to change the face of it would do -- use the media to generate interest and enthusiasm for the new image being created.

It is a well-proven path to success in business. But it is not the proper role and procedure of our government.

Especially since, in Ogden's case, the legislative arm of the local government, the Ogden City Council, has yet to see any plans for either the resort or the gondola, and has therefore obviously not voted to approve them. Despite this, not only is the city as a whole portrayed as being in favor of these two things, but public relations firms are hired to portray it as being so by the administrative arm of the local government, even to the point of the inclusion of the mayor in a promotional DVD that was handed out at a ski trade show.

When discussions about this type of governmental activity reach this point, usually the discussion will be diverted. This in itself is an interesting phenomenon. Those who begin asking that if, for instance, it should ever be found that the war in Iraq was indeed motivated mainly by oil prices, was it proper for our government to intervene in that country, will end by perhaps having to defend themselves against accusations of being pro-torture.

Here locally, those who ask if it is proper for the administrative arm of government to be advocating projects that have not even been approved by the legislative arm will find themselves being questioned as to whether they are for or against the gondola. Or the resort. Or ski companies.

That is really not the issue at all. It's not all about oil, and it's not all about the gondola. What this is all about it taking a critical look at the way government, both national and local, has redefined itself. It is, in some cases, running itself like a business. In other cases, it is funding and "protecting" certain businesses. And I don't know if we, as American citizens, really want our government to be doing that.

We are a nation that runs on a capitalistic economy, and we all know that the state of the economy is a factor in our national well-being. When our government begins to be involved in capitalistic enterprises, our allowance of this practice is actually harming our entire system.

Here's why: In order for a capitalistic enterprise to be successful, certain factors have to be in place. For instance, any business whose cash expenditures exceed its cash inflows simply will not be around for long. Government, however, does not have to deal with that particular factor. Government, as opposed to business, is always guaranteed a cash inflow through tax dollars. Business is not. Right there is created a fundamental inequality as regards competitionwhat business owner would be able to compete with a rival who had unlimited funds and also did not even have to take into account the factors of inflow and outflow, or supply and demand? And in addition, what business owner would wish to contribute to the unlimited funds of such a rival? Yet, this is exactly the situation we have when we as citizens endorse government running itself like a business.

So it's not about oil, and it's not about the gondola. It's about a fundamental change in the role of American government at all levels that does not bode well for the survival of the American capitalistic economy. And even though we may be a "young country," we're old enough now to have learned a few things. Obviously, since we have evidently forgotten a few things, one being the way we were set up in the first place. Old enough for a refresher course, perhaps, on who we are, what we stand for, and what we require from our various local and national governments in order not only to continue, but to prosper.

Woodhouse lives in Ogden, and contributes to the Standard-Examiner and Weber County Forum from time to time.