Somebody Do Something!
link EU Blasts Unacceptable Airport Chaos – WSJ.com.
Something unusual happens, a political response is the tonic. This seems to be the natural order of things in our enlightened times. Somehow over the past couple of generations, people have been brainwashed to expect that someone, somewhere will take care of all the vicissitudes of life. How did this come about? Despite all the planning and forecasting tools available to us and in direct affront to so called experts, things don’t always work out. In the not so eloquent prose of traders, shit happens. That’s why there’s such a thing as the insurance business.
The recent “once in a lifetime” snowstorm in Europe, but especially London, stranded many travellers at airports and trainstations due to ‘unpreparedness’ by the authorities. The U.K. papers are filled with editorials of outrage over the lack of planning for this “once in a lifetime event”. Really? Do people actually think that governments have the ability to anticipate and prepare for every contingency that may affect people? Or should they? In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the left side of the political spectrum let loose with searing accusations that somehow George Bush was at fault for the misery that accompanied the flooding of the City of New Orleans. This, despite the fact that the city is built below sea level and the levees had been iffy for years. Does this make sense to rational people? It certainly makes sense in our politically charged litigious society.
Finger pointing is the legacy of modern civilization. Typically, an accusation is made with the index finger, then the accused responds with the requisite middle one and we’re off to the lawyers’ offices. If the scale of aggrievance is big enough, it’s off to the legislatures. We’ve become a society of cry babies. It’s always someone else’s fault when something unfortunate befalls us. If we’re lucky enough, there’s a law somewhere which covers the event and some compensatory damages are collectible. If not, someone will make a law.
This is the siren song of socialism and collectivism. The belief is spread that a benign and omniscient government will take care of all your needs. While to some, this may carry some warm and fuzzy appeal, to most, it should be a shrieking alarm to run hard in the other direction. Eerily, I can think of at least one experience which may predict where an omnipotent government takes us. That would be in the field of animal husbandry, chicken and cattle farming. All the needs are cared for including food, shelter and breeding in a perfectly controlled environment. The residents are homogeneous and pliant. Predictably, you don’t hear of many chickens or cows going off to live successful, fruitful lives. Extrapolate this to our society and we will see that this mindset breeds stupidity and brings to a halt any advance in human evolution.
Pied pipers who purport to solve all that ails should be treated with deference and made to feel secure in their acceptance by people. Then, when their guard is down, they should be jumped, shackled in chains, attached to an anchor and summarily tossed into the East River. Only by culling those pious political posers does society have a chance of surviving.