Politics & Power Quote by William L. Jenkins

Reagan is less a subject here than a vessel: a shortcut to an entire political theology. By invoking him as lifelong believer, William L. Jenkins isn’t arguing policy in the technocratic sense; he’s consecrating a worldview with a saint’s biography. “Capable of great things” flatters the audience with national-scale self-esteem, while “its people could and would lead the way” recasts economic behavior as civic destiny. The line is built to make freedom feel like patriotism and skepticism of government feel like common sense.

The operative move is the phrase “if left unburdened.” Taxation and regulation aren’t treated as tools that can be calibrated; they’re framed as dead weight. That metaphor matters: burdens don’t get improved, they get removed. It quietly shifts the debate from “What should government do?” to “How quickly can we get government off our backs?” It also implies that when America falls short, the culprit isn’t markets, corporate power, or inequality, but interference from the state.

Contextually, this is Reagan-era mythmaking recycled for whatever moment Jenkins is speaking into: a period when distrust of institutions is high and “freedom” polls better than austerity. It’s a message aimed at business owners, suburban voters, and anyone who experiences bureaucracy as humiliation. The subtext is that prosperity is natural, almost automatic, and that government is the main obstacle to Americans becoming their best selves. The emotional payoff is absolution: if you believe in the people, you must cut the leash.