CONTEXT: From time to time, I try to explain my human biology-based ideology. What led to that mindset was a number of things. One was an increasing awareness of how corrupt, inept and self-serving the two-party system is. Another was the rise of deep public discontent with and distrust in American political institutions, politics, politicians and real and fake experts. Another was a possibly not completely correct understanding that all forms of government, capitalism, socialism, communism, fascism, dictatorship, theocracy, almost all of which were kleptocratic, and whatever else humans have ever tried usually led to bad to awful outcomes for most average people, or, in view of endless wars, poverty, tyranny and human misery, at least that’s how it seemed.[1] Also in the mix was the fact that human technology and activity could easily lead to destruction of civilization and maybe even species self-annihilation. If civilization collapses, billions will die.
Finally, there was a decline in respect for truth, facts and defensible, reasonable logic, something that was surprisingly motivating in looking for an appealing alternative political mindset. The disrespect had been growing for decades, but now with the rise of Trump-style populism, it is full-blown, powerful and highly corrosive to civil society.
Obviously, all of that is personal opinion and some or much of it could be at odds with objective truth. Different people will see the situation differently. The data shown in the charts suggest that things have been getting better despite all the discontent, distrust, complaining and finger pointing. Maybe too many people’s expectations, e.g., me, are out of line with what the human species can do. Maybe they’re not.
Setting that good news stuff aside, what seemed to be universal failure of all tested political ideologies, forms of government and economic systems, it was to be reasonable to look elsewhere for potential answers. It took only a brief exposure, ~30 minutes, to a book on the biology of politics, George Lakoff’s 1996 book Moral Politics: What Conservatives Know That Liberals Don't, to switch the light bulb on. It’s all about the biology, stupid -- ideology, religion and systems of government are beside the point. People are going to be people. Period. That lesson came fast and easy. What came after was slow and hard.
THE IDEOLOGY: The science is in and the debate is over: If serving the public interest or common good is the goal, politics is more incoherent and irrational than needed. Arguably, it is more incoherent and irrational than not.[2]
Bad leaders usually share a few traits that are deeply ingrained in human biology. They (i) disrespect or completely ignore truth and facts, (ii) don't care if they apply completely bogus logic or reason to whatever truth and facts they are claiming, and (iii) cite their facts, logic, ideology and morals as the basis for the best outcomes for the people, but (iv) usually (> 95% of the time ?) generate results that greatly benefit them, their family, friends, supporters and/or ideology, while doing little or nothing for, or actually harming, the public interest. Sooner or later, it always seems to turn out about like that. The last century may have some contrary lessons, but listening to everyone complain today, one wouldn't think that.
If one accepts the fact (not opinion) that human biology is by far the dominant force in politics and the opinion that the public interest usually gets the shaft while elites frolic in semi-utopia, then what can one do for politics? Over time, this ideology slowly came into focus:
Ignore political ideologies to the extent possible and to the extent possible hold as the highest moral political values (i) fidelity to objective truth, (ii) fidelity to reason that is as unbiased or logically defensible as possible, and (iii) use that to inform and shape policy and laws in service to the public interest based on a competition of ideas.
The public interest is a complicated, contested concept. It will probably be debated forever. However, putting that aside, one definition of service to the public interest can be described like this: It means governance based on identifying a rational, optimum balance between serving public, individual and commercial interests based on an objective, fact- and logic-based analysis of competing policy choices, while (1) being reasonably transparent and responsive to public opinion, (2) protecting and growing the American economy, (3) fostering individual economic and personal growth opportunity, (4) defending personal freedoms and the American standard of living, (5) protecting national security and the environment, (6) increasing transparency, competition and efficiency in commerce when possible, and (7) fostering global peace, stability and prosperity whenever reasonably possible, all of which is constrained by (i) honest, reality-based fiscal sustainability that limits the scope and size of government and regulation to no more than what is needed and (ii) genuine respect for the U.S. constitution and the rule of law with a particular concern for limiting unwarranted legal complexity and ambiguity to limit opportunities to subvert the constitution and the law.
Obviously, some of that will be instantly criticized, e.g., protecting and growing the American economy is unsustainable and completely at odds with protecting the environment. That's right, there are internal contradictions and the way that conception of service to the public interest deals with conflicting goals is to focus on “identifying a rational, optimum balance” among competing interests.
The point is to build a mindset that relentlessly looks for merit and tangible results for the public interest. Weak argument such as, “What’s good for GM is good for America” isn't persuasive. What’s good for the public interest is good for America. Notice the mindset change from the specific to the broad.
The point of the ideology is to make it a little harder to do politics based on opacity, lies and fake logic. Opacity, lies and fake logic are invariably used by special interests, bad leaders, e.g., Donald Trump, and ideologues to win arguments. The point is to make politics perform the best it can within the limits of human biology.
Will it work? Not at present. Maybe never. At the moment, American politics is turning toward more lies, fake logic and opacity, not less. Maybe this read is wrong, but the American public has lost patience and is succumbing to fear and other reason-killing emotions. There is some evidence that at least some humans can be noticeably more rational about politics. But whether that mindset can ever gain mainstream acceptance is an open question. In view of human history and biology, it seems highly unlikely.
Footnotes:
1. There is data showing that for many poor people in the US and probably most other countries, the last 100 years or so have been the best time in human history to be poor in terms of access to basic necessities such as food, public education, clean water, sanitation and health care. If that data is basically correct, things could be a whole lot worse than they are now.
2. This is how some scientists see politics: “. . . . the typical citizen drops down to a lower level of mental performance as soon as he enters the political field. He argues and analyzes in a way which he would readily recognize as infantile within the sphere of his real interests. . . . cherished ideas and judgments we bring to politics are stereotypes and simplifications with little room for adjustment as the facts change. . . . . the real environment is altogether too big, too complex, and too fleeting for direct acquaintance. We are not equipped to deal with so much subtlety, so much variety, so many permutations and combinations. Although we have to act in that environment, we have to reconstruct it on a simpler model before we can manage it.”
B&B orig: 5/29/18
No comments:
Post a Comment