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Don Boudreaux, econ prof at George Mason, and blogger at Café Hayek, has a brilliant op-ed in Pittsburgh Tribune-Review with an analogy that nicely illustrates The Lesson of Henry Hazlitt’s classic Economics in One Lesson - “The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groupsâ€
I once knew two World War II veterans. Both were fine men. One, call him Bill, was a navigator on a B-29 bomber based in the Pacific. The other, call him Joe, was an infantryman in Europe. Fortunately, neither was injured during the war. Although alike in many ways, a notable difference between Bill and Joe was that Bill spent lots of time happily recalling his bomber days while Joe steadfastly refused to speak of his wartime experiences.
This difference between Bill and Joe contains a lesson about politics.
I once asked Bill why he retained such fond memories of the war while Joe recoiled from such memories. Bill’s response was revealing: “Joe fought in face-to-face combat. He saw blood and death up close. But for me the war was great. I flew lots of missions over Japan and nearby islands and all I ever saw were little puffs of smoke on the ground where our bombs hit.”
Reflecting on Bill’s response, I realized that politicians and their bureaucratic appointees are much like bomber crews: They wreak much havoc but seldom experience firsthand the destructive consequences of their actions.
Pickerhead likes this metaphor; “The political class carpet-bombing the nation.â€
Shorts on immigration.
Mark Steyn on W’s choice of words yesterday.
Post in Reason’s Hit & Run reveals the bureaucrat’s mind.
Instapundit with a great cure for the bureaucrat’s mind.
David Brooks takes one for the team. He read Al Gore’s new book so we won’t have to.
If you’re going to read Al Gore’s book, you’re going to have to steel yourself for a parade of sentences like the following:
“The remedy for what ails our democracy is not simply better education (as important as that is) or civic education (as important as that can be), but the re-establishment of a genuine democratic discourse in which individuals can participate in a meaningful way — a conversation of democracy in which meritorious ideas and opinions from individuals do, in fact, evoke a meaningful response.†…
… Some great philosopher should write a book about people — and there are many of them — who flee from discussions of substance and try to turn them into discussions of process. Utterly at a loss when asked to talk about virtue and justice, they try to shift attention to technology and methods of communication. They imagine that by altering machines they can alter the fundamentals of behavior, or at least avoid the dark thickets of human nature.
If a philosopher did write such a book, it would help us understand Al Gore, and it would, as he would say, in fact, evoke a meaningful response.
Samizdata thinks Obama’s health care ideas are delusional.
Investor’s Business Daily continues the Jimmy Carter editorial series.
… When men of strength are presented with difficult problems, their responses are firm and decisive. Jimmy Carter spent four years as president of the United States responding with weakness.
Carter’s legacy is marked by a series of lame responses to historic challenges. His reputation as a failed president is well-deserved. From January 1977 to January 1981, Carter routinely let America down. …
John Stossel writes on trade and markets.
Some people hate me because I defend free markets. Once someone accosted me on a New York City street and said, “I hope you die soon.”
Why the hostility to commerce? What could be more benign than the freedom to trade with whomever you wish? …
Robert Samuelson, in dog bites man story, finds hypocrisy in DC gas on gas.
… Americans want to stop global warming. They want to cut oil imports. They want cheaper energy. Who will tell them that they can’t have it all? Not our “leaders.”
Thomas Sowell with part II of War of Words.
Nice post on the NY Times agenda from Jim Taranto.
Nice post on the Globe agenda from The New Editor.
Power Line rounds out our MSM hat-trick.