Congressman David Scott’s high-profile fail yesterday is but the tip of an iceberg. These officials are only beginning to feel the strain. They are, by design, setting themselves (and us) up for inevitable, ceaseless FAIL.
His response is almost understandable. Given that government cannot fairly (so-called) allocate scarce resources across the entire health-care system, of course it would make his life easier to:
- shout people down;
- loudly proclaim his own position of power;
- hide behind bureaucracy to disguise accountability;
- attack the decency of anyone who dares to disagree;
- falsely imply openness and benevolence while actually embodying their opposites;
- deny the legitimacy of opposition by counting only those who agree with him as constituents; and
- avoid answering the press.
The Fatal Conceit is real and unavoidable. This tiny group of government bureaucrats cannot possibly hope to manage the health-care economy. Clearly, some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. They are going to fail, and it is going to hurt.
Also understand — health-care reform characterized by market allocation instead of central command would bring many benefits. Within such an effort, there would naturally be many failures. Competition and free trade, though, would sift among alternatives to uncover successes, further innovations, and yield progress.
That’s how it works.
