Dear Editor:

In these days of fact free political discourse, Mary Brewer’s mythological musings (November 18) are as romantic as they are false. The boogeyman of big government is an old chestnut that ought to be put to rest. But the business friendly crowd continues to rattle the bones of this myth to garner support for a business friendly agenda.

This is a big country with big aspirations, big needs and big enemies. Yet no one complains about the post office being too big, nor do pensioners complain about having too much Social Security. Size is not the relevant question.

The bigger question is whose side is the government on? We celebrate our big military because it’s on our side. In domestic politics, the question comes down to: Is our government business friendly or family friendly?

Of course, big business hates the Affordable Care Act that requires that they provide health insurance. It also hates OSHA that protects workers, the EPA that forces them to stop polluting our air and water, the SEC that keeps our financial markets honest. Big business hates any rule making that prevents it from exploiting the public.

Big business has demonstrated time and time again that it tends toward being monopolistic, authoritarian, and rapacious in appetite for profit. It is only through the constraints of democratic rule making that big business also serves the public good.

We engage in trade and economic activities not as an end to itself but as a means to support our families and build community. We look toward our government to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” As imperfect as our government is, it is all we have to counter the exploitive nature of big business.

As our campaign season unfolds we must ask that harder question of whose side the government is on and I hope that most of us will put our families first.

Fred W. Nehring

Boothbay