What If – Aligning Motivations
Interesting thought experiment from one of Rand Simberg’s commenters:
I bet if the entire Obama Administration and Democratic Congressional Leadership were sentenced to hang on December 1, 2009, if the stock market were not above 9000 and unemployment were not below 7%, they would become raging tax-cutting pro-business libertarians overnight.
That is, I don’t believe they are so stupid and deluded as to believe their own hogwash right down to their core. They know very well they’re hanging a millstone around the economy’s neck, costing jobs and punishing capital markets. But they don’t care. They have ambitions — more government power for themselves, better status and pay for their supporters — and they actually don’t care that a bunch of plumbers and HVAC men are going to pay for it with their jobs, 401k’s, life savings invested in the new house. Can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs, y’know.
via The Strategy Of Perpetual Crisis – Transterrestrial Musings.
I’m generally not a fan of these types of “what if” arguments, because they tend to just confirm people’s pre-existing beliefs. This one probably suffers from the same defect, but it is original enough that I still want to note it.
