"Whether manufactured by black, white, brown or yellow hands, a widget remains a widget - and it will be bought anywhere if the price and quality are right. The market is a more powerful and more reliable liberating force than government can ever be."
It's amazing to me that many business leaders - including those in the U.S. - continually look to the government for a competitive advantage. To me it's not only immoral, but stupid as well.
Margaret Thatcher understood the tremendous power that the market is, and also knew that it was a far better source to liberate people than the government even can or ever will be. It doesn't matter what government or what country you're talking about: it's true.
This is why even if competitors attempt to use a government to thwart us, we need to resist the strong tendency to join the game as well. Not only does it give the government far more power than it should have, but it ends up interfering with the lively, robust markets that exist, turning them into slogging caricatures of their former selves.
While the government has a place in the court systems, as far as enforcing contracts, and similar things, it has no place in passing laws specifically introduced to make it harder for someone to compete with a business. This is done far more than we realize, under the guise of some type of general theme which eventually leaks down to a very specific circumstance.
Businesses and business leaders shouldn't be allowed to do this, neither should they even desire to. If we can't compete in the free markets, than we need to think of changing our strategy or get into a new profession. To undermine the markets by interfering with them, does more harm than most people understand over the long haul.
We need to strongly resist that and look for new ways to compete in the market. Nothing changes in business like offering quality products, great service and a good price. Offer that on a continuous basis and there isn't even a need to be tempted to use the government for our own ends.
Going to the government to get an advantage is another way of saying you've surrendered to your competitor. Even if someone is able to enlist the government and get legislation passed to their advantage, in the end they've lost something of their competitive edge, and eventually they'll become an insignificant player in their chosen field.
We need to learn to innovate, not legislate our way to success. Those getting into the habit of manipulating politicians to get their way, will find themselves at the bottom of the heap over a period of time. We shouldn't go that route. Margaret Thatcher knew it and changed the growing socialism that was creeping throughout Britain during her days of leadership.
Margaret Thatcher Resources:
The Best Quotes From Margaret Thatcher's 'Statecraft'
Margaret Thatcher & the Revival of the West
Interview with Margaret Thatcher
Magaret Thatcher's Life in the Shadows
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