As Tamny explains, the populist revolts in the United States and other countries are not driven by a disdain for science or learning. The populists don't object to expertise in itself, but rather to the mistakes that conceited experts keep foisting on the public.... Tamny keenly appreciates the original definition of "conventional wisdom," John Kenneth Galbraith's term for beliefs that are popular not because they're correct, but because they're comfortable--and comfortable for the right people in power.
Learning from failure
I'm looking forward to reading a new Powerline-recommended book by John Tamny, "They're Both Wrong," which promises to poke holes in conventional wisdom on both sides of the political aisle. I had to stop while still in the Foreword to quote from John Tierney, who argues that what distinguishes capitalists from bureaucrats is that they're punished for failure and therefore learn from it:
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4 comments:
Pithily explained by the old adage,
"When you are in a hole, stop digging."
Bureaucrat version. "When you are in a hole, buy an excavator to dig faster, and have 20 experts stand around to insist the operator is doing it wrong".
One of the traits of government which , to me, is the most infuriating, is the absolute refusal to admit a mistake, even for the most egregious errors or overstepping. Many times a innocent party injured by government action, is then further injured by a government prosecution, apparently in an attempt to establish some credibility for the action taken.
Government of the Government, by the Government, for the Government. It sure would be nice to see some balance- I am not one of the no government nuts, watching in real time as the former Yugoslavia disintegrated in a battleground did illustrate a strong Government does have some benefits, but still- I blame JFK- his legalization of public sector unions was among the very worst of presidential decisions. Even the leftist icon FDR was firmly opposed to such a thing. So now we have an entrenched Government Class, with the rest of the country in a sort of tenant relationship being farmed for taxes.
Public sector unions truly will go down in history as one of the great blunders.
I had not heard of this one, Tex. It sounds interesting. I just got Neil Gorsuch's new book last night (A Republic, If You Can Keep It). Haven't started it yet, though. This might have to go on the list!
Over the past few years, I've been repeatedly struck by the quasi-religious veneration with which pundits and the press cite "experts" (or at least, "experts who fall in line with the approved narrative"). Whatever happened to Question Authority?
Just believe (in experts, who can't even agree with each other).
One of my favorite quotes:
“…in the long run the aggregate of decisions of individual businessmen, exercising individual judgment in a free economy, even if often mistaken, is less likely to do harm than the centralized decisions of a government; and certainly the harm is likely to be counteracted faster.”
--- John Cowperthwaite,
Hong Kong financial secretary,
1961-1971
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