About

I can’t remember a time when I believed government was the answer. I grew up in Los Angeles back when Southern California was more of a conservative place. I supported Richard Nixon (big mistake) in 1960 when I was in junior high. I met and shook Ronald Reagan’s hand when I was at UCLA and he was running for governor of California. I grew up remembering the 60s. (There is a drug-related joke that if you remember the 60s, you weren’t there. I guess I wasn’t there.)

For me free enterprise or capitalism has never been about greed. It’s about work. If you want something and you are a capitalist, you work. If you want something and you are a socialist, you hold your hand out and wait for the government to take care of you. If someone else needs something and you are a capitalist, you try to help. If you are a socialist, you suggest a tax hike on someone else and leave it up to the government.

After college I spent 8 years selling custom draperies on commission. Then I worked for 12 years at WordPerfect Corporation, helping the company grow to annual sales over $600 million. Pushed out in 1992, I wrote a book about my time there. Using my own money, I spent the next 12 years developing three software products, a grammar website, and two musical CDs, none of which made a lot of money. Since 2004 I’ve been doing a few not-for-profit things while enjoying my family (especially the grandkids).

Each morning I read the Deseret News, a left-leaning newspaper that serves a right-leaning audience in Utah. Six days a week I read the Wall Street Journal, a left-leaning news organization with a right-leaning opinion section. Many of the articles drive me crazy. This website is the place where I can express my outrage.

Thank you for stopping by. Pete (W E Pete Peterson)