The Ownership Society
Thanks to outtacontext
George Bush the Last was a true believer in the ownership society. As the New York Times reported in December 2008:
He pushed hard to expand homeownership, especially among minorities, an initiative that dovetailed with his ambition to expand the Republican tent — and with the business interests of some of his biggest donors. But his housing policies and hands-off approach to regulation encouraged lax lending standards.
The rationale for the ownership society is that owning stuff gives people a stake in the system. Here is a typical statement from David Boaz, writing for the Cato Institute:
People have known for a long time that individuals take better care of things they own. Aristotle wrote, “What belongs in common to the most people is accorded the least care: they take thought
