The Failure of Politics; D. Bandow

Yet however dreary this makes elections for the believer in liberty, it should give us hope as well. For the American people seem to be growing ever more frustrated with the failures of politics. Which means that average citizens are likely to become more skeptical of Uncle Sam acting as Earth Mother. Mr. Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a nationally syndicated columnist. He is the author of several books, most recently, Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World. 83 There is perhaps no better evidence of public dissatisfaction than people's increas ing tendency to ignore elections. Only one quarter of the electorate admitted to paying close attention to the 1996 campaign in the final week, 40 percent less than four years before. Voter turnout was the lowest in a presidential election since 1924. Many citi zens expressed their desperate yearning for a real alternative to the Washington conven tional wisdom. In short, ever more people seem to realize that politics, as the means to raise their children, ensure their futures, and provide meaning to their lives, is a deadend.

Citizens increasingly see that political society is dominated by empty vessels interested in little more than acquiring power, politicians who run from problems, offer pablum instead of solutions, and cheapen political debate by focusing on trivia instead of ideas. In short, public dissatisfaction with politics is a heaven-sent opportunity. Indeed, what could be better from the standpoint of liberty? True, some pundits consider falling politi cal interest to be a bad thing. Curtis Gans of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate fusses over declining voting rates at a time when the electorate is older, better educated, and less mobile. He blames a num ber of factors, including "anti-government demagoguery." Yet there is nothing demagogic in noting that public authorities take far too much of people's incomes-over 40 percent. Nor in pointing out that major government pro grams, particularly Medicare and Social Se84 THE FREEMAN • FEBRUARY 1997 curity, are heading toward fiscal disaster.

There is nothing demagogic in showing how a host of unnecessary and burdensome regula tions slow economic growth and keep people out of jobs. Nor in observing that U.S. inter vention overseas often causes more harm than good. There is nothing demagogic in criticiz ing abuse of power by law enforcement agen cies. Nor in demonstrating how misguided government programs like welfare destroy family and community. Rather, doing so is merely speaking the truth. Government Fails There are many reasons, as readers of The Freeman know, that government fails, and fails so persistently. One factor is the role of incentives. In many ways, government's goal is to fail, or at least not to succeed so much as to eliminate the problem, thereby elimi nating the perceived need for a government program. Further, politics is concerned about inten tions rather than results. If you want to raise people's incomes, the minimum wage sounds like a good policy. You have to understand economics to realize that artificially hiking wages prices labor out of the market and thereby throws people out of work. But then, understanding economics was never a re quirement for holding public office.

Even politicians who care about results are at a disadvantage, since the political system can never accumulate the same amount of information reflected in market processes, nor flexibly meet people's needs. The inter national price of a barrel of oil alone incor porates more information than is contained in every file and on every computer disk at the Department of Energy in Washington. And even the largest oil company can change its policy more quickly than can the federal government. Finally, in the end, cooperation rather than coercion, the hallmark of government, is the best means of solving most problems. Threat ening people with jail can gain compliance with a rule, but not assistance in meeting a goal. Yet, as business realizes, a shared com mitment to a particular end is far more likely to yield beneficial results for everyone in volved. There's another reason that government fails so abjectly today, however. And that is because the cause of many of our worst problems is moral rather than political. Drug abuse is fundamentally an issue of the human spirit. Rising illegitimacy rates and family disintegration result from poor values, not inadequate programs. Crime grows out of immorality, not poverty. The ubiquitous re fusal to take responsibility for one's actions instead suing anyone in sight, demanding government aid irrespective of cause, and blaming everyone else for individual fail ure-is a moral issue.

Looking Beyond Politics While there have been some bizarre dis cussions in Washington about the "politics of meaning," few people really believe that gov ernment can offer a substitute for morality. Rather, most people understand that we need to look beyond politics to civil society for answers. That means, first, a commitment to do right in one's dealings with family, friends, neigh bors, and business associates. The best place to model family values is within one's own family. Public officialscan help lead, but only if they walk the walk. That is, criticism of, say, family breakup needs to grow out of a genuine concern for children rather than reflect a desire for political advantage. A commitment to civil society also means teaching values to the young. But not the values that emanate from a political process characterized by dishonesty and demagogu ery. In education, in particular, the best government can do is get out of the way.

Indeed, many urban schools can neither pro tect students' physical safety nor teach them to read, let alone impart moral values. Only by empowering parents to control their chil dren's education can we prepare future gen erations to be good citizens. Moreover, our society will flourish only so long as people organize to solve problems around them. Churches, for instance, have proved to be a powerful tool not only for transforming people's lives,but also providing those in need with practical tools to escape poverty and despair. Yet the growth of gov ernment has encouraged many churches to lobby for more public programs before work ing to alleviate problems directly. As religious charities have become hooked on the govern ment dole, many have lost the spiritual focus that made them successful in the first place. Unfortunately, we can never do away with politics, since some problems require col lective action through the one social instituTHE FAILURE OF POLITICS 85 tion that can coerce. But growing public frustration with politicians suggests that peo ple may be finally recognizing that the inher ent flaws in political society are so great that we should limit what we ask government to do. If government can't keep the streets safe, how can it mold souls and brighten our futures? We must take responsibility for such tasks ourselves, in cooperation with those around us through the marvelously complex matrix of human association that naturally arises outside of politics. 0 Back in Print ... from The Freeman Classics Series THE MORALITY OF CAPITALISM Edited by Mark W. Hendrickson Introduction by Hans F. Sennholz "Ethicalconsiderationsgive essentialjustificationto privateproperty in the means of production,to marketcompetition,and the profitsys tem. They grant the capitalisticeconomicorder an importantplace within a moral order, a place with one system of ethicsfor rulersand subjectsalike-to be honestand peaceful,refrainingfrom any action that woulddo harm to afellow man. In fact, the capitalisticorder gives rise to a moral system of rewardsand punishmentbased on integrity,effort,talent,learning,and thrift. By lendingprotectionto economicfreedom it also becomes the ultimateguarantorof the noneconomicelementsoffreedom such as thefreedom of speech,of religion,the press,and personalbehavior."

-HANS E SENNHOLZ(from the Introduction) D espite Communism's recent setbacks, the moral arguments of Marxist thought-the reality of class struggle and the need for collective government action due to capitalism's exploitation of the masses-still persist in the Western mind. This collection of essays by powerful writers attacks that "moral" foundation of Marxism. Capitalism, with its emphasis on personal responsibility, respect for an individual's rights, and protection of the fruits of one's labors, makes moral as well as economic sense. Contributors include: Edmund A. Opitz, John K. Williams, Leonard E. Read, EA. Hayek, Perry E. Gresham, Garet Garrett, Norman S. Ream, Robert A. Sirico, Paul L. Poirot, Peter J. Hill, BillAnderson, Hans E Sennholz, Allan Levite, Ludwig von Mises, Israel M. Kirzner, Steven Yates, and John Attarian. Published by The Foundation for Economic Education, Inc. Irvington-an-Hudson, NY 10533 ISBN 1-57246-055-5 216 pages (indexed) paperback $14.95 Availablein bookstoresnationally,or call (800) 452-3518 • Fax (914) 591-8910 THEFREEMAN IDEAS ON LIBERTY It Takes a Market by Bettina Bien Greaves To drink coffee I do not need to own a coffee plantation in Brazil, an ocean steamer, and a coffee roasting plant, though all these means of production must be used to bring a cup ofcoffee to my table. Sufficient that others own these means ofproduction and employ them for me. 1 -LUDWIG VON MISES N one of us has the means or the techno logical know-how to do all that is nec essary to place a cup of coffee on the breakfast table. Nor, for that matter, to provide us with all the many other things we use and consume every day. For this, we need a market. We need exchanges and property owners-savers, investors, entrepreneurs-who are willing to devote their resources to production.