Posted by
Andrews on Sunday, November 22, 2009 8:38:46 PM
So, when you look about you, see the state in which we find ourselves, see the health care bills creeping through the senate, see the government running wild, who is to blame? I know it is not usually a productive question, it is usually much better to find a solution than place blame. But since politics is all about votes and passing legislation and regulations, it may be useful to ask it, if only so we can avoid putting the same people in charge. So, again, let us ask, who is to blame?
Is it Obama? How could it be? He is only a year in office. You don't remake a government in a year. The Democrats? Maybe, but did spending stop when they were the minority? Washington in general? Well, they do pass the laws, but they serve only at our discretion, we can always replace them.
I know it is unpopular to say so, that we are not allowed to mention it, that our modern culture is all about denying anyone is to blame for anything, but perhaps we are to blame.
Now most of my readers will argue that they are conservatives, they opposed big government, but I think almost all of must admit we may be mostly conservative, but we are not consistent. How many conservatives continue to support their local congressmen, just because they bring back money? Or support smaller government except when it comes to protective tariffs? Or when it comes to capping CEO income? Or punishing greedy bankers? Or Wall Street fat cats? And how many of us have hesitated before raising our voices in defense of unpopular causes? When was the last time you defended unlimited salaries for CEOs? Or the rights of speculators? ("
Authoritarian Oil Talk", "
Crippling Business", "
AIG Nonsense", "
"Fair Trade"","
Exploited Labor")
You see, we have three big problems. First, right or left we still seem to believe the government should
ALWAYS respond. No matter the problem, when something goes wrong, we expect the politicians to react. Even if it is an issue in which government should not be involved, we still demand they do so. No matter our political position, we have far too much faith in the state. ("
Doing Something", "
"Doing Something" Revisited")
Second, we have a disturbing populist stream on the right. We say we are for small government, but we tend to fall for populist rhetoric about "fair trade" ("
Protectionism Right and Left", "
Free Trade, Employment, Outsourcing, and Protectionism","
Misplaced Blame and A Power Play"), about greedy CEOs and unscrupulous stock brokers ("
Beware Populist Deception").We say we don't trust the state, but then give them far too much credence when it comes to issue about which we feel strongly, and most are stupidly populist positions, which, taken to their logical conclusion ("
Inescapable Logic"), would grant the state almost unlimited power.
Finally, those of us who recognize these truth all too often adopt the "big tent" approach and refuse to speak out. ("
The Difficulty of Principle") And, while I normally endorse compromise ( "
Cigarettes, Sudan and Abortion"), in this case we are not compromising to achieve our goals, but compromising our very principles, and, even then, are probably not getting what we think. ("
Why Shrinking a Party May Be Good") If we were to welcome protectionists on the understanding that they were allies, but that we did not agree with their premises, it may be permissible, but by refusing to point out the problems of their beliefs, by pretending that protectionism and populism are parts of the Republican platform, we give the impression they represent our party, and that ends up moving the party slowly leftward. Not to mention that it provides openings for the left to use our own logic against us.
I know it will likely win me no friends to say so, but the politicians are not to blame, not really. They are only doing what we told them to do. Every time we demand politicians "do something", every time we decry greedy CEOs and evil bankers, and every time the rest of us refused to speak out against such statements, we told the politicians to do exactly what they are doing. ("
What We Deserve", "
Don't Blame the Politicians","
Bad Economics Part 6", "
The Inherent Disappointment of Authoritarianism")