Citizenship and Duties of Government
Theodore Roosevelt believed a requirement of citizenship is the obligation to give service to the nation. In Roosevelt’s judgement service to the nation meant the redistribution of wealth.
Roosevelt qualified the obligation saying if you provide a benefit and you're overpaid you don’t deserve property ownership.
TR also believes that government needs to regulate business and control access to natural resources.
Roosevelt explodes when he learns from Pinchot that 20% of the country’s timber was in the hands of three companies
The Hepburn Act gave him the power to use the Interstate Commerce Commission to control railroads and the Bureau of Corporations to regulate and control the entire industrial economy.
TR also believed in the theory you didn’t create your business on your own you needed the help of others.
These opinions and his attacks on the courts and a call for nullification caused Roosevelt to loose favor with the electorate.
During his 1912 Progressive Party Campaign TR's solutions seemed out of touch and he was criticized as someone who studied the problems talking to people living the problems.
