It’s long been an article of faith among Main Street business owners that the less government in their lives the better. So last week I wanted to see if that maxim is still in force. Not one respondent thought the balance was in favor of the government, but more than eight of ten allowed the government was more negative than positive. A small group said the relationship was balanced, and the tiny number at the bottom must represent start-ups.

The large group could be guilty of not giving the government credit for those things we take for granted: There is peace in our land, we have good highways and other conveyances, plus there are many services the government provides that it’s uniquely positioned to do. But it’s likely that our numbers skew against the government for at least three reasons: 1) unlike the marketplace, government typically is annoyingly illogical, 2) we don’t like it when the government tells us how to run our business, and 3) we don’t like the income redistribution ideology and policies coming from government for the past half century.

American would be so much better if the government would adopt more small business approaches to operating an organization and solving problems.