Government is force, and politics is power. Politicians and activists are bullies--when they are not being cowards. So people that follow politics have to lie to themselves a lot in order to persuade themselves that they are on the side of the angels instead of the thugs.
Capitalist enthusiasts do this a lot. The fact is that the Anglo-American empire utterly conquered the world in the last three centuries and not one stone has been left un-turned. But we Anglo-Americans like to tell the story that we have ushered in an age of milk and honey. Maybe we did, but we also took a lot of sled-dogs behind the rock and clubbed them to death.
Our liberal friends are like that too. They are convinced that they are the harbingers of peace and justice even as they shatter civil society, turn every human activity into a government program, and break every rule that they set.
Want some examples? Here are just two from today.
In Massachusetts, the failure of RomneyCare has prompted liberal politicians there to pass a "cost-containment" bill. It will basically allow the state government to dictate the operation of the entire health care industry in Massachusetts.
The brutal truth about politics is that it is civil war by other means. Partisans on both sides excuse the abuses of "their" side while howling about the abuses of the other guys. That's why we need reporters to make a fuss about any abuse of power. It's a pity that the media so rarely live up to their responsibilities.
Well, there is this, from Nicholas Wade in The Faith Instinct:
Capitalist enthusiasts do this a lot. The fact is that the Anglo-American empire utterly conquered the world in the last three centuries and not one stone has been left un-turned. But we Anglo-Americans like to tell the story that we have ushered in an age of milk and honey. Maybe we did, but we also took a lot of sled-dogs behind the rock and clubbed them to death.
Our liberal friends are like that too. They are convinced that they are the harbingers of peace and justice even as they shatter civil society, turn every human activity into a government program, and break every rule that they set.
Want some examples? Here are just two from today.
In Massachusetts, the failure of RomneyCare has prompted liberal politicians there to pass a "cost-containment" bill. It will basically allow the state government to dictate the operation of the entire health care industry in Massachusetts.
Under the plan, all Massachusetts doctors, hospitals and other providers must register with a new state bureaucracy as a condition of licensure—that is, permission to practice...Or there is this. The Obama Department of Labor doesn't want defense contractors to follow the law in sending out layoff notices to employees in advance of the November election.
An 11-member board known as the Health Policy Commission will use the data to set and enforce rules to ensure that total Massachusetts health spending, public and private, grows no more than projected gross state product through 2017, and 0.5 percentage points lower thereafter. (And Paul Ryan's Medicare projections are unrealistic?)
No registered provider is allowed to make "any material change to its operations or governance structure," the bill says, without the commission's approval. The commission can also rewrite the terms of provider contracts with insurers and payment levels and methods if they are "deemed to be excessive."
One of Big Labor's legal pride and joys is the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, a 1988 law that requires federal contractors to tell employees at least 60 days in advance of potential large-scale layoffs. Well, what do you know, last week the Department of Labor issued "guidance" on its website that this law doesn't need to be followed for the purposes of the looming January 1 budget sequester.When Republicans are in office, the mainstream media blows items like these into major scandals. There is extravagant talk about the rule of law and abuse of power. In the Obama years we have seen many flagrant abuses similar to today's mere two abuses of power, and the mainstream media has said nothing.
The brutal truth about politics is that it is civil war by other means. Partisans on both sides excuse the abuses of "their" side while howling about the abuses of the other guys. That's why we need reporters to make a fuss about any abuse of power. It's a pity that the media so rarely live up to their responsibilities.
Well, there is this, from Nicholas Wade in The Faith Instinct:
Men like power and will seize it if they can. But if they can't rule, their next preference is that no one rule over them.Maybe, just maybe, this fall the human second preference will rear its noble head.
No comments:
Post a Comment