One of the best barbecue restaurants in existence, Jim 'n' Nick's, gives an object lesson in the difference between free market capitalism and government programs, with nothing more than a bottle of hot sauce and an email.

Hot sauce?  Yes - hot sauce.

Let's face it, I'm a chile-head.  I love hot, spicy foods of all kinds, most especially barbecue.  Put a slow-cooked, melt-in-your-mouth beef brisket in front of me and I'm a happy camper.  Join that with some sort of spice that might rip the skull off the unprepared, and I'm yours.

So what does this have to do with free market capitalism and government programs?

Well, recently, I tried to buy some of my favorite barbecue hot sauce from my aforementioned favorite barbecue restaurant, and couldn't do so.  I also didn't get a clear answer as to exactly why.  So, I sent an email to their corprate headquarters, fully expecting that it would vanish in a black hole somewhere, but at least feeling that I had vented.

Boy, was I off-base!  Not only did I get a response in about a day, but a very polite reply with an offer to come back by and get exactly what I was after.

Well, I just got back from a great meal at Jim 'n' Nick's, and a wonderful sit-down with Brian, the manager.  And two bottles of the much-sought-after hot sauce.

Why do I keep mentioning the restaurant name?  Am I a paid endorser?  YOU BET I AM!  I've been rewarded with the best payola in the free market capitalist system - customer SERVICE.  It helps that they have great food.  But it's even more important that they responded to a minor quibble the way they did.

And just when was the last time you got anything like *that* from a government office of any kind?  More importantly, when was the last time a government employee was REWARDED for it, the way I'm trying to reward Brian and Jim 'n' Nick's and Caitlin, my wonderful waitress right now?

Here's the bottom line.  Businesses that respond to their customers thrive, and businesses that don't wither and die.  Government programs may wither, but they never die.  And the more abysmally they perform, the more likely they are to get extra funding to "fix" the problem.

Private parties, motivated by that awful thing called "greed" will ALWAYS outperform the government functionary, simply because they ARE motivated to do so.  And if they don't, they GO AWAY, they don't stick their paws further into your pocket because you didn't want what they had.

Do you want to help convince people that government is NOT the answer?  Just find something in THEIR lives that THEY care about, and show them how the private sector makes that better for them every day.  Then show them how goverment always mangles it.

Government sponsored health-care?  No Thanks.  I'd rather have a greedy doctor responding to MY meager wallet han a government purse.  Paid-up prescription coverage?  No Thanks.  Give me the greedy pharmacist who knows I have a choice and I'll exercise it.  Government-issue pabulum of any sort?  No Thanks.  I'm going to choose what type of sauce to put on my food, and you choose what goes on yours.  And believe me, there will be vendors there to supply it.  Because they're greedy, just like Brian, and Caitlin and all the other folks at Jim 'n' Nick's...  Thank goodness.