"Government Didn't Build My Business, I Did"

The Coffee Cup Cafe & Cantina, Boulder City, NV

photograph by Evan Robinson

We stopped for breakfast (for Sara) and lunch (for me) at this cute little place in Boulder City, Nevada, just down the street from the bust of Frank Crowe, who honcho'd the whole damn Dam.

Nice place, and I almost didn't walk in when I saw the sticker on the front door: "Government Didn't Build My Business, I Did".

In Boulder City, Nevada.  A town that owes its entire existence to a government run public works project, Hoover Dam -- and which was government owned and run until 1959, more than two decades after the Dam was completed.  The Dam and associated recreation looms so large in Boulder City that it is one of only two municipalities in Nevada that ban gambling.

But he/she/they built their business all on their own lonesome without any contribution by the big evil gubmint.  Not the utilities they use, not the road that passes in front of the place, not the sidewalk they put tables on or next to, not the police and fire protection they enjoy, and especially, most especially, not that damnable Dam and the lake next door that just attracts oh, their entire f*cking clientele*.

So, "Al and the Stevens family", it's so good to know that you are standing on your own feet and not taking any handouts.

Because government didn't just help you build your business, Government Built Your Whole F*cking Town!

* Because nobody would be living in this godforsaken desert if it weren't for the power and water provided by Hoover Dam, not to mention that all their "Local Boulder City folks" who are "their mainstay" wouldn't have a town to live in if the Dam weren't there.