We could do them far more good if we simply abolished our tariffs and allowed them to send their goods to the United States and sell them here. We are engaged in what is called foreign aid, which does far more harm than good. Their governments need to be weakened, not strengthened. We are involved, all of us, in an intellectual dilemma that affects us every day. On the one hand, we look to government to define and protect private-property rights.
Government has a very important and basic function.
It is difficult to conceive, in my opinion, of a truly civilized society in which government does not have an important role. Yet, at the same time, the problem everywhere is excessive government. Government is trying to do so many things that it has no business doing that it is not able to do the things that it alone can do. The dramatic recent riots in Los Angeles, following a verdict that was a trigger, not a reason, for the riots, display in microcosm the extent to which government is a problem in my country and in many countries. Consider the residents of the Los Angeles ghettos.