I am not overly surprised at those who latch onto a partisan notion in hopes of a decisive blow for their political team. Also, apparently, reading comprehension is not what it used to be. Dozens of reasons likely explain why some cannot comprehend statements such as those President Barack Obama made concerning entrepreneurship.
Here, in context, is the relevant bit: "The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together."
Who could make something controversial out of that? Yet, with video editing and the like, you can make this statement somehow mean: A socialist government tells us how to work and we can only dutifully act as robots. We owe government our full allegiance. Etc.
David Welch in his letter "A reason not to re-elect Obama," July 22, sees Obama's speech as proof he has bought "into the failed socialist notions of collective economics." He says this is "truly scary."
Obama said none of us got to where we are alone, that we succeed because of our own initiative, and because we do stuff together.
Mr. Welch's conclusion is what's truly scary, as is Romney's response to fly the flag of individualism, stating: "To say what [Obama] said is to say that Steve Jobs didn't build Apple Computer or that Bill Gates didn't build Microsoft..." Except Obama didn't say that. Obama was reminding us that Jobs wasn't alone. In fact, didn't Steve Wozniak actually build the computer? And where would Apple be without that $150 million loan from Microsoft? Or without the Internet (which the government built, by the way), or the education system, a decent highway system, a national defense, etc?
Is this not obvious? To most, it is. But to some, such as Romney and Mr. Welch, it isn't. And that is what is truly scary.
JONATHAN LLOYD
Valley Falls