Freedom is Actually Quite Expensive
Note: This was originally written in the Summer of 2018, posting it now.
Visiting America after spending almost a year in Uganda has caused me to reflect a lot on what makes these countries so different. One of the phrases I keep coming back to is the conservative truism "That government is best which governs least". I would rephrase it as "That government is best which provides the most freedom". Government power is just one of the forces at work controlling you- social forces and economic forces have their own sway over your decisions.
A common example is gentrification- people forced to move out of a neighborhood because their cost of living skyrockets. No government official ever walks through the neighborhood and tells people "You Must Leave", but the decision becomes "I must leave because I can no longer afford to pay rent here". Regardless of how it happens, the effect is the same. Social forces are similar- there is no law that says "Don't fart in an elevator", but the rule gets enforced regardless. In America we benefit so much from a strong central government- safety regulations, traffic laws, public education and related government intrusions on our personal freedoms are what make American life so much different from life in Uganda.
I think capitalism is awesome... at most things. It's great at getting goods and services to people, driving innovation and fostering peace through mutual interdependence. However, it has some inherent blind spots- capitalism is bad at big-picture planning and human rights, because both of those are really expensive. That government is best which gives you the most freedom- it should do this by balancing the various forms of control over your life. Good governance is more complex than just stepping back and letting the economy run- it involves active checks and balances between government power, economic power and social power. This is never a simple process that fits neatly into a meme- it's an ongoing conversation about where that balance should lie. Ultimately I think most liberals and conservatives are fundamentally good people and we want the same thing - freedom. We just need to agree on what the word means.
Visiting America after spending almost a year in Uganda has caused me to reflect a lot on what makes these countries so different. One of the phrases I keep coming back to is the conservative truism "That government is best which governs least". I would rephrase it as "That government is best which provides the most freedom". Government power is just one of the forces at work controlling you- social forces and economic forces have their own sway over your decisions.
A common example is gentrification- people forced to move out of a neighborhood because their cost of living skyrockets. No government official ever walks through the neighborhood and tells people "You Must Leave", but the decision becomes "I must leave because I can no longer afford to pay rent here". Regardless of how it happens, the effect is the same. Social forces are similar- there is no law that says "Don't fart in an elevator", but the rule gets enforced regardless. In America we benefit so much from a strong central government- safety regulations, traffic laws, public education and related government intrusions on our personal freedoms are what make American life so much different from life in Uganda.
I think capitalism is awesome... at most things. It's great at getting goods and services to people, driving innovation and fostering peace through mutual interdependence. However, it has some inherent blind spots- capitalism is bad at big-picture planning and human rights, because both of those are really expensive. That government is best which gives you the most freedom- it should do this by balancing the various forms of control over your life. Good governance is more complex than just stepping back and letting the economy run- it involves active checks and balances between government power, economic power and social power. This is never a simple process that fits neatly into a meme- it's an ongoing conversation about where that balance should lie. Ultimately I think most liberals and conservatives are fundamentally good people and we want the same thing - freedom. We just need to agree on what the word means.
Comments
Post a Comment