As I am sure you all know the rumblings of the start of the college football season is here and with it comes the demise of the Pac-12 conference. Well, the Pac-4 now. For as long as I can remember I have always watched college football. It was a Saturday tradition in my family and being from the West Coast there was always a special place in our hearts for the Conference of Champions.
I remember hearing the news that UCLA and USC were leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. A $62 million dollar deal, just for signing on the dotted line of a new conference. I was shocked but excited at the same time. Once I got over the initial emotions, I realized that this could very easily be the beginning of the end of the Pac-12 conference. If you are wondering how I knew that the answer is simple.
Which universities wouldn’t be interested in increasing their funding by simply joining a new conference?
After all, we live in a free market. It is one of the many reasons I love this country. And sure enough, team after team began following UCLA and USC. This is what America’s free-market system allows for. It allows folks to seek out a new and better opportunities that improves future prospects. In a free market, you have the power to discover the opportunity that best suits you, your business, and your family. You possess the freedom to assess the market and arrive at the most informed and optimal decision possible.
The capitalist, free market economy is often demonized, but it is the same economy that allows two universities on the West Coast to earn more money so that they can pour into the development of their students. It is that same economy that allows you and me to pursue opportunities that enhance our futures, build up the community we live in, and provide for our families whom we love so dearly. No economic system is perfect, and our economy has faced some hard times, but it always manages to make a comeback. It makes a comeback because of the hard-working people who believe in this country and who believe in their right to the pursuit of happiness.
Not unlike the Pac-12, our economy is currently facing some tough times, and everyone feels its effects on one level or another. But thankfully, I have faith in my fellow Americans. Faith in our resilience and determination. Faith in our commitment to hard work and a love of our country that has already seen us through darker times. I have every confidence that the same love of family and country will see us through any economic hardships because we live in a nation that allows us to pursue the opportunity of a better future.