On Thursday, February 21, the College Republicans hosted Steve Forbes as a part of its Logan Family Lecture series. “Steve Forbes writes editorials for each issue of Forbes Magazine under the heading of ‘Fact and Comment,’” declared Thomas Treshock in his introduction of the esteemed multimillionaire. “A widely respected economic prognosticator, he is the only writer to have won the highly prestigious Crystal Owl Award four times. The prize was formerly given by the U.S. Steel Corporation to the financial journalist whose economic forecasts for the coming year proved most accurate.”
The lecture addressed a wide array of topics in no particular order; healthcare, small business, taxes, capitalism, and the growth of the nation were all touched on as significant issues. Forbes opened by disputing a misconception about the nature of capitalism; people believe that capitalism is inherently cold. “In Hollywood, research has shown that businessmen kill more people than serial killers […] The reality is, and this’ll sound a little strange given the current environment, there is a moral basis for capitalism. You only succeed if you provide something somebody else wants.”
He went on to espouse the wonder of human ingenuity. An example he used was in the idea of oil as a natural resource: “There’s nothing natural about oil. In and of itself, it’s just glop, gooey stuff. You can’t eat it, you can’t drink it, can’t feed it to camels, it’s just goo, whereas human ingenuity can turn this gooey stuff into something a modern economy can’t live without.”
The lecture concluded with a Q&A session. The first question was, “What was it like running for President?”
“If you’re open to it, you can learn more about this country. One of the things you learn about this country in a way you won’t learn traveling as a tourist or as a business or whatever, for all the junk you see on TV and all the crazy stuff you see online, it’s a very strong country, it’s a very diverse country […] in terms of interests. Take the Republican Party. In the presidential races, it begins with the Iowa caucuses, then the first primary is in New Hampshire. In Iowa, and this is a generalization with many exceptions, social issues are extremely important, far more important than economic issues. You go to New Hampshire, Republicans there couldn’t care less about social issues; just leave their guns alone and you’re fine — and don’t raise their taxes. New Hampshire is one state where in a primary, a pro-choice referendum might win. Iowa, it’d be resoundingly defeated; in New Hampshire, it might pass.”
Keep an eye out for the expanded edition of this article next week!
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