Smith's article could basically be applied to almost any area of federal government policy.
Fear motivates policy in many areas - just one example: fear of someone getting wrongly fired has led to rules and regulations that ensure that government workers can't be fired, allowing the bottom 50% of performers to hang around while top performers leave for better compensation and work environments.
But the bottom line is that the government works for us, not the other way around. The only reason all of these lousy policies have staying power is because we allow it to happen. First, we're too lazy to hold anyone accountable. Analyzing policy in a serious manner takes serious thinking, yet the most "serious" of pundits and candidates always break complicated issues down to binary questions: do X or there will be another 9/11; so-and-so doesn't support policy X so he must hate America, etc. Uh sorry, it's more complicated than that.
Second, we're too immature to take calculated risks. Something might go wrong. Unfortunately, we've "decided" that it's better to strive for the bottom rather than strive for the top, even though the risk/reward tradeoff is more favorable at the top.
Last edited by Doppy; Dec 29, 2007 at 5:04 pm