from Verse One Hundred Twenty-NineThe reason sages are esteemed is not because they formulate penalties according to crimes, but because they know where disorder comes from. If its sharp edge is opened up and it is allowed to run its own course without any restraint, just being left up to the law and followed up with punishment, even if it destroys the world that treachery cannot be stopped.~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~
I don't know how it goes in the rest of the world, but US government fails again and again because they take the band-aid approach. Instead of looking at issues holistically, they take a narrow focus and try to tweak one aspect or another. This approach habitually causes even more problems which is addressed by applying another band-aid!
This is how it works on issue after issue. Take health care. Despite the fact the US has the most inefficient health care system in the western world, Congress steadfastly refuses to overhaul the system from top to bottom. No, instead of seeking to utilize a different model, all they seem willing to do is to apply a few timid tweaks here and there.
For another example, look at the financial fiasco we find ourselves in. We're handing billions of taxpayer dollars to failed corporations with very few strings attached. When the suggestion is made that our ineffective rules are what led to this economic meltdown, all our president and elected reps can muster are a few weak tweaks of a corrupt system. It should also be noted that we're in this mess because previous administrations failed to recognize the impending danger and they too only offered toothless safeguards that did nothing to divert the crisis.
The time to act when danger is looming is at the time the trouble was first created. If you fix the leak then, it doesn't grow into an unstoppable cascade of water. Unfortunately, our government tends not to act until the water has smashed the dam and flooded the valley. At that point, everyone looks around and asks, how did that happen?
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
This is how it works on issue after issue. Take health care. Despite the fact the US has the most inefficient health care system in the western world, Congress steadfastly refuses to overhaul the system from top to bottom. No, instead of seeking to utilize a different model, all they seem willing to do is to apply a few timid tweaks here and there.
For another example, look at the financial fiasco we find ourselves in. We're handing billions of taxpayer dollars to failed corporations with very few strings attached. When the suggestion is made that our ineffective rules are what led to this economic meltdown, all our president and elected reps can muster are a few weak tweaks of a corrupt system. It should also be noted that we're in this mess because previous administrations failed to recognize the impending danger and they too only offered toothless safeguards that did nothing to divert the crisis.
The time to act when danger is looming is at the time the trouble was first created. If you fix the leak then, it doesn't grow into an unstoppable cascade of water. Unfortunately, our government tends not to act until the water has smashed the dam and flooded the valley. At that point, everyone looks around and asks, how did that happen?
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
Unless you have a foolproof way to seamlessly replace what is there with what is not yet there, and a plan to keep disaster from resulting while the one way is changed for the next way, it makes a lot of sense to tread carefully.
ReplyDeleteThe idealist is all too prone to vandalize the existing order, while giving inadequate thought as to how to replace it.
Your point?
ReplyDeleteThe point remains forever unseen to those uninterested in seeing.
ReplyDeleteWhy not give me an example of what you mean? Provide some illustration by referencing a specific policy or issue.
ReplyDelete