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Trump's Business of Government
The White House has announced that Trump will name his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to run a new Office of American Innovation - described as a SWAT team of strategic consultants staffed by former business executives, designed to infuse fresh thinking into Washington and help make government work more like a business.
It's good to have fresh thinking about how government might function more efficiently. But it's important to remember that government is not a business. The purpose of government is not to show a profit. It is to achieve the common good.
Mar 28, 2017
The White House has announced that Trump will name his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to run a new Office of American Innovation - described as a SWAT team of strategic consultants staffed by former business executives, designed to infuse fresh thinking into Washington and help make government work more like a business.
It's good to have fresh thinking about how government might function more efficiently. But it's important to remember that government is not a business. The purpose of government is not to show a profit. It is to achieve the common good.
Precisely because there are many different views about the common good, government leaders must be capable of listening and responding to many different opinions and perspectives.
They must also be public educators - telling the public the truth, explaining the consequences of different options, and conducting public deliberation about what is best for society.
Above all, presidents should enrich and strengthen democracy - building trust in democratic institutions, avoiding conflicts of interests, and promoting tolerance and social cohesion.
So far, Donald Trump has done the opposite. He doesn't need more business advice. He needs more advice about how to lead a democracy.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
The White House has announced that Trump will name his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to run a new Office of American Innovation - described as a SWAT team of strategic consultants staffed by former business executives, designed to infuse fresh thinking into Washington and help make government work more like a business.
It's good to have fresh thinking about how government might function more efficiently. But it's important to remember that government is not a business. The purpose of government is not to show a profit. It is to achieve the common good.
Precisely because there are many different views about the common good, government leaders must be capable of listening and responding to many different opinions and perspectives.
They must also be public educators - telling the public the truth, explaining the consequences of different options, and conducting public deliberation about what is best for society.
Above all, presidents should enrich and strengthen democracy - building trust in democratic institutions, avoiding conflicts of interests, and promoting tolerance and social cohesion.
So far, Donald Trump has done the opposite. He doesn't need more business advice. He needs more advice about how to lead a democracy.
Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
The White House has announced that Trump will name his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to run a new Office of American Innovation - described as a SWAT team of strategic consultants staffed by former business executives, designed to infuse fresh thinking into Washington and help make government work more like a business.
It's good to have fresh thinking about how government might function more efficiently. But it's important to remember that government is not a business. The purpose of government is not to show a profit. It is to achieve the common good.
Precisely because there are many different views about the common good, government leaders must be capable of listening and responding to many different opinions and perspectives.
They must also be public educators - telling the public the truth, explaining the consequences of different options, and conducting public deliberation about what is best for society.
Above all, presidents should enrich and strengthen democracy - building trust in democratic institutions, avoiding conflicts of interests, and promoting tolerance and social cohesion.
So far, Donald Trump has done the opposite. He doesn't need more business advice. He needs more advice about how to lead a democracy.
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