Steven Greffenius · @sgreffenius
28th Apr 2020 from TwitLonger
"By whatever means necessary" vs. "Let's figure this problem out"
Right now it takes some courage to lay out the case against government intervention to protect _all_ of us during this pandemic. Twitter seems to attract people who cannot think past 280 characters. They will flatten you there, and on Facebook, if you take a minority stance. Some people still write articles, longer than fifty-five words:
For Better Health, Find a Cure for Government
In a time of health crisis, government has proven to be a crippling underlying condition.
https://reason.com/2020/04/27/for-better-health-find-a-cure-for-government/
J.D. Tuccille begins with an observation that may put you off, if you think government's can-do energy on all fronts bespeaks competence and good intentions. The pandemic, he writes, demonstrates no situation is "so severe that government can't make it worse." Moreover, its negative impact has not resulted from mistaken decisions made under pressure, with incomplete knowledge and scanty experience. Government has authored its negative impact _as a matter of policy_. When you command the Titanic, you do not second guess your course.
It is as if government officials step in front of a group of mountain climbers on a difficult, icy slope, appoint themselves in charge, then force them all into a crevice from which experienced mountaineers cannot extract themselves. When climbers begin to question these decisions, the officials tell them to quiet down, we plan to stay the course. Then they congratulate themselves on their willingness to make the tough decisions! When you think they may understand their _methods_ are at fault, that their leadership results in disaster because they do not even know how to think about the problem, they tell you to shut up again. They intend to apply the same methods until they bring all climbers off the slope, dead or alive.