A Point of Contention
Today in the Washington Post, one of my favorite writers, Anne Applebaum, wrote a very bold Op-Ed entitled, “A government of the people’s every wish?” Though many people tout the American brand of “rugged individualism,” the sobering reality is that many Americans do not practice what they preach. In fact, “[the] majority of Americans are wary of global trade, don’t trust free markets and also think that ‘the benefits from . . . Social Security or Medicare are worth the costs of those programs.’ And when the sample is restricted to people who support the Tea Party movement? The share is still 62 percent.”
Perhaps before we wave our Gadsden flags we should be reminded that “[a] secretary of state or defense traveling with dozens of cars and armed security guards would seem absurd in many countries, as would the notion that the government provides a tax break if you buy a house or that schools should close if there is ice on the roads. Yet we not only demand ludicrous levels of personal and political safety, we also rant and rave against the vast bureaucracies we have created — democratically, constitutionally, openly — to deliver it.”
Naturally the Applebaum article reminded me of Bryan Caplan’s brilliant book, The Myth of the Rational Voter, which outlined the case against democratic popular opinion as yielding the greatest results for the individual. As Caplan explains, “[in] politics as in religion, some beliefs are more emotionally appealing than others. For example, it feels a lot better to blame sneaky foreigners for our economic problems than it does to blame ourselves. This creates a temptation to relax normal intellectual standards and insulate cherished beliefs from criticism — in short, to be irrational.” Furthermore, democracy provides little reward to be well informed on every issue but offers a collective yolk to bare the burden of everyone’s seemingly “insignificant” choice between candidates. This renders the election process privy to nonsensical, emotion-filled campaigns that repeatedly result in poor-equipped candidates. (You’ll have to read more Caplan to truly appreciate the argument – I cannot do it justice.)
I am always a little saddened to find myself in agreement with people like Caplan and Applebaum. Commentators like George Will always regard those on the left-wing as the elitist snobs with no faith in the common man. Yet the number of people who are uninformed about politics (and still choose to vote) doesn’t leave me with much regard for public elections.
Normally, when speaking about my beloved private sector, I have a high degree of faith in people’s functioning rationale. In fact, that is a requirement in order to trust the free-market to the degree I do as a libertarian. It seems like the overwhelming power of the government is the variable inciting my cynicism.