The Stupid Act

After a recent hurricane, Puerto Ricans desperately needed fuel. Fortunately, an oil tanker was right offshore. Unfortunately, the U.S. government forbade it to come ashore!

Why?

Because of a stupid law with a stupid name: The Jones Act.

The Jones Act forbids shipping anything between American ports in ships that are not U.S.-built and crewed. This makes goods cost more (the average Hawaii family must pay $1,800 more a year) and sometimes, as happened in Puerto Rico, makes a crisis worse.

social and governance) agenda, which has captured so many of the largest investment firms. And Mr. Ramaswamy authored two hard-hitting books, “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam,” and “Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence.”

Mr. Ramaswamy is showcasing his own life as proof that the American dream is alive and that the real threat we face is the “woke” culture that wants to turn our free nation over to left-wing politicians to force their agenda on everyone and have taxpayers pick up the bill for the trillions spent doing it. There is a reason why the nation is now staggering under massive debt and growing at a rate one-third more slowly than the average for a half-century after World War II. Growth comes from productivity; productivity comes from efficient use of capital; and capital is used efficiently only when businessmen and entrepreneurs can invest as they wish, according to their best economic judgment.

The takeover of American business by politically correct ESG standards — environmental, social and corporate governance— is destroying our efficient use of capital, per Mr. Ramaswamy. If a business causes clear environmental damage, it should be responsible. But climate change science is not at all clear, and forcing firms to make decisions based on ideology rather than science hurts all of us. We must stop, Mr. Ramaswamy says. Similarly, businesses must be free to make their own decisions who they hire and the values they choose to support. We cannot have business hamstrung by an agenda set by left-wing politics.

The way to help more minorities succeed is not governmentmandated affirmative action, but demanding excellence from them as from everyone else. This is the social agenda — classic American freedom — that will work for everyone.

But I wonder what Mr. Ramaswamy means when he writes, “We must restore merit for who gets to come to America” and, “we must embrace merit in who gets to succeed in America.”

If we have freedom, merit will arise on its own because it is what a free society demands. We certainly don’t need merit itself being defined by those with political power. Vivek Ramaswamy is for sure a model success story, and every American will benefit by knowing about it and hearing what he has to say.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show “Cure America with Star Parker.” To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com.

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