Do we really want "efficient and effective government"?
"This [claim] blanks out the most important question about government: the question of what it should be doing in the first place! "Should the government should censor speech, or ban abortions, or eliminate carbon emissions, or the movement of goods and people on which our prosperity depends? These are not questions of efficiency or effectiveness. And indeed when a government is doing things that are destructive, it is better that it does them ineffectively. ...
"There’s no such thing as doing a bad thing well; there’s just doing it more or less effectively, and when the goal is bad, it’s better that one be ineffective at bringing it about. ...
"The context of present politics is that much of what both parties want to accomplish is wrong and destructive. And in such a context it’s foolish and immoral to think about who will be more efficient or effective in a way that’s agnostic about their ends."
~ Greg Salmieri, in answer to Lex Friedman
2 comments:
That quotation only true up to the point of Elon: he will be removing the destructive regulation that holds back innovative America.
I'm not speaking for Trump and his damned tariff wars, but in relation to Elon, he would be an American Xavier Milei given the chance (as shown by his defence of free speech in America).
To the extent government is doing something that's useful, even if we believe it's beyond their proper role (eg: running schools, hospitals, TV stations, etc), then yes, we do want them to be efficient and effective.
Even if government is doing something that's not useful (eg: collecting taxes, policing the RMA), we still want them to be efficient and effective in processing what we need from them to carry on with our lives as best we can - such as processing our tax returns and consent applications. It at least lessens the impact on us.
It's only when they are struggling to control something best left to individuals, and being more efficient and effective allows them to get more control is the answer no. The extent to which this applies though is rapidly diminishing. Generally everything they want to control is controlled these days and there's no getting around it.
Post a Comment