Fausty has a link to an essay on the Ludwig von Mises Institute website about consequences that are not the stated intention. I deliberately expressed the concept in an ungainly way, because not only does the essay consider unintended consequences but the possibility that the stated consequences are not the true reason for the policy; the actual desired consequences might be to increase power or gerrymander for the politicians putting the policy forward.
This essay is one of the most coherent arguments I have seen for libertarian politics and for small government. It gives a powerful condemnation of the core ideas of socialism, but also a convincing argument that left-wing policies are in some cases deliberate, cynical power grab, ignoring the negative consequences to the public.
Of course I have talked about unintended consequences before, but the essay is a far broader, more fundamental discussion of the issue. Do have a read.
2 comments:
I had to chuckle when I got to "What if a 'public servant' chooses intentional ignorance so as not to see predictable adverse consequences?" Public servants don't need to choose intentional ignorance: they are extremely well-practised liars. They also have an astonishing facility with vague and ambiguous phraseology. I am forced to admit that they belong to the same species as myself but I don't have to like it.
I'm glad the message reached at least one more person. It's such an important issue.
Thanks for flagging it up and thanks for the link.
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