Success shouldn't depend on government favors: Column

This weekend I will join hundreds of entrepreneurs, including Charles and David Koch, at the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce meeting in California. Before the negative media coverage begins, I would like to explain what we stand for.

We believe, and history has shown, that nothing is more effective than free markets at promoting happiness, health, and prosperity — not just for the few, but for everyone in society.

My own story shows a glimpse of what the free market can do. In 1970, at the ripe age of 21, I rented a truck to start hauling tomatoes. Today, our company is the world’s largest tomato processor, employing approximately 2,500 people and with $900 million in annual revenues. Most importantly, the products we make are enjoyed by millions of Americans every day — pizza and pasta, anyone?

This is testament to the limitless potential in the free market. We grew because we listened to our customers and created products that people wanted — products that made people’s lives better. This is the essence of a free society. People benefit themselves by benefiting others — a simple concept with revolutionary results.

The entrepreneurs who join me this weekend have similar stories. These men and women spurred economic growth, increased the country’s standard of living, and created new opportunities for countless people. At the root of their successes — and the success of America’s economy overall — is every individual’s freedom to choose for themselves what to do with his or her time, money, and life. In the last 20 years, economies that embraced this principle have lifted nearly a billion people out of extreme poverty.

Yet here in America, both Republicans and Democrats are taking us in the opposite direction. Rather than empower people to make their own choices, politicians have given themselves and unelected bureaucrats ever more control over how the economy works and how people live their lives. They think they know what people need better than the people themselves.

But this mindset only harms the vast majority of people, especially the least fortunate. Simply look at the over-regulation and cronyism that are rampant in America today.