Barack Obama The official "You didn't build that!" thread

[EBounding]

I think I know what Obama was going for here. None of us exist in a vacuum. Nothing would be possible if we were all flying solo. I think it's actually a great pro-capitalist message. It's like the central theme from I, Pencil. No one person can take responsibility for the pencil you have in your hand. Instead, all of humanity has come together and been guided by the invisible hand to deliver you that pencil. The owner of the pencil company might be more responsible for it than others, but it's not like it was 100% him that made it happen.

That's the first thing I thought when I heard what Obama said.

But with that said...

 

[brandon]

^^LOL

 

[Perry]

This shit is epic and needs to go viral.

 

[jkr]

the fact is if guBBermint wasnt involved...i would have done something else, or even nothing, its my life

so FUCKOFF baRRy

 

[VanBummel]

Best political meme ever.

 

[Steve-in-NY]

To be fair, if a death star is ever created, it is pretty likely that the government will have built it.

To be fair, its not fully operational.

 

[cajuncocoa]

I think I know what Obama was going for here. None of us exist in a vacuum. Nothing would be possible if we were all flying solo. I think it's actually a great pro-capitalist message. It's like the central theme from I, Pencil. No one person can take responsibility for the pencil you have in your hand. Instead, all of humanity has come together and been guided by the invisible hand to deliver you that pencil. The owner of the pencil company might be more responsible for it than others, but it's not like it was 100% him that made it happen.

Anyway, maybe I'm grasping at straws and Obama's just a smug bastard.

I think it's a slippery slope, heading to the end of property rights. If you didn't build your own business because there were public resources and other people involved, how long before they stretch that idea to "you don't own your home, you didn't build that, the resources (wood from trees, water, etc) came from the public, and therefore everything you think you own is really the property of all"?

 

[TheGrinch]

I think I know what Obama was going for here. None of us exist in a vacuum. Nothing would be possible if we were all flying solo. I think it's actually a great pro-capitalist message. It's like the central theme from I, Pencil. No one person can take responsibility for the pencil you have in your hand. Instead, all of humanity has come together and been guided by the invisible hand to deliver you that pencil. The owner of the pencil company might be more responsible for it than others, but it's not like it was 100% him that made it happen.

Anyway, maybe I'm grasping at straws and Obama's just a smug bastard.

Well, if your referring to ideas, progress, really anything and everything, then yes, your environment, genetics, experiences, etc., come into play into any and everything anyone will ever do...

However, this is to deny free-will and hard work that just because the world is deterministic, that one's efforts aren't worthy of praise. So while it might hold an element of truth, it's incredibly insulting, and a slap-in-the-face to the personal responsibility that we all believe in, to assume that one cannot lay claim to the great things they achieved.

I'm not sure that is really pro-capitalist. It seems far more pro-socialist to assume that it's only the efforts of the collective before you, and not individual progress you've made.

 

[TheGrinch]

I think it's a slippery slope, heading to the end of property rights. If you didn't build your own business because there were public resources and other people involved, how long before they stretch that idea to "you don't own your home, you didn't build that, the resources (wood from trees, water, etc) came from the public, and therefore everything you think you own is really the property of all"?

Pretty much what I was getting at... No matter how much assistance or opportunity you might have had (and many small-businesses owners haven't had), this world was built with individual accomplishments, which absolutely shouldn't be downplayed because progress, is well, progress.

 

[Cowlesy]

I think I know what Obama was going for here. None of us exist in a vacuum. Nothing would be possible if we were all flying solo. I think it's actually a great pro-capitalist message. It's like the central theme from I, Pencil. No one person can take responsibility for the pencil you have in your hand. Instead, all of humanity has come together and been guided by the invisible hand to deliver you that pencil. The owner of the pencil company might be more responsible for it than others, but it's not like it was 100% him that made it happen.

Anyway, maybe I'm grasping at straws and Obama's just a smug bastard.

I liked Charles Murray's take on it.

http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/07/un-american/

 

[dannno]

I think I know what Obama was going for here. None of us exist in a vacuum. Nothing would be possible if we were all flying solo. I think it's actually a great pro-capitalist message. It's like the central theme from I, Pencil. No one person can take responsibility for the pencil you have in your hand. Instead, all of humanity has come together and been guided by the invisible hand to deliver you that pencil. The owner of the pencil company might be more responsible for it than others, but it's not like it was 100% him that made it happen.

Anyway, maybe I'm grasping at straws and Obama's just a smug bastard.

I would actually argue that Obama wasn't referring to the small business when he said, "You didn't build that"

Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build [the roads and bridges and 'unbelievable American system that allowed you to thrive]. Somebody else made that happen.

Obama is still clueless about economics, though.

 

[tfurrh]

Brandon, I believe you are confusing business - the trading/building/assembling/manufacturing/creating/inventing/mobilizing, of raw materials, natural resources, goods and services

with raw materials,natural resources, goods and services.

Obama wasn't saying, 'you didn't build that (product)!" He was saying 'you didn't build that (business)!"

 

[cajuncocoa]

 

[cajuncocoa]

 

[tfurrh]

 

[cajuncocoa]

We can see by this picture that Noah didn't build that ark alone, too!!

 

[tfurrh]

EHow.com - How to Start a Business From the Ground Up.
http://www.ehow.com/how_6783253_start-business-ground-up.html

Starting a business can seem intimidating. Starting a business from the ground up can seem downright impossible. You start with a concept upon which you wish to build a profit, but you may not have any idea how to go about accomplishing it. What many don't seem to realize however, is that every business starts with nothing and only grows through the time and efforts of its owners.

Read more: How to Start a Business From the Ground Up | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_6783253_start-business-ground-up.html#ixzz210JwNUzd

 

[Rothbardian Girl]

 

[ronpaulhawaii]

 

[cajuncocoa]