George W. Romney Quotes
It is morally, politically and socially wrong for business as business or labor as labor to participate directly in politics.
Romney, George W. The Concerns of a Citizen. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1968.
This memo was sent before he was nominated as a Supreme Court Justice. The Senate did not know of this memo at the time he was ratified otherwise he might not have been. Powell saw every serious critic of the American Economy or the existing government policies as “attacking” the American Free Enterprise System. Surprisingly, he thought that business executives were rather helpless when it came to supporting the status quo.
Mises is one of the very few economic conservatives who opposed companies getting involved with lobbying or politics in any way. He, like some others, saw the negative public effect that business produces when it does get deeply involved in politics, but he uniquely observed that the businesses themselves suffered as a result of the involvement in politics. Obviously very few business leaders of the 21st century agreed with Mises’ earlier views.
In 2014 he was accused of money laundering and placed under house arrest by the Russian Government. This typically was the first step in seizing some or all of his assets. When that is done, typically there are local and national politicians who will benefit as they will be able to “buy” the assets from the government at pennies on the dollar.
In the pre-computer era, “geek” referred to a circus sideshow person who usually had some remarkable skill or unusual deformity. In the computer era, a geek is a very skilled computer programmer who is very immersed in the technology and not terribly interested in politics or typical popular culture. However as any technology becomes ubiquitous and affects the lives of most citizens and the economy, politics is bound to intrude. Politicians are particularly ignorant of science and technology and if the geeks do not get involved in politics, their tools, systems, capabilities, freedoms and restrictions will be determined without their input, understanding, and pressure.
George Wilcken Romney was an American businessman and Republican Party politician. He was chairman and president of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd Governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969 and 3rd United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 to 1973. He was the father of Mitt Romney, the 70th Governor of Massachusetts, 2012 Republican presidential nominee, and current United States Senator from Utah. He was husband of 1970 U.S. Senate candidate Lenore Romney and grandfather of current Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel.
