In Despair Over Democracy - Both America's and Ours
"Any halfway intelligent
citizen should realize that the populist resistance of Tea Party leaders Sarah
Palin and Glenn Beck, as well as the opposition of Democrats to Obama, is
nonsensical in terms of economic policy. … The majority of Americans will
probably vote against their own interests and those of their country in
November. Unfortunately, that's not unusual."
Whether it's in the U.S. or
Austria - the will of the majority often leads to destructively economic and
political decisions. Democracy is undoubtedly the best - or more precisely the
least worst - of all possible forms of government. But sometimes even this can lead
one to despair.
Take the U.S.: Democrats
under President Barack Obama are headed for a crushing defeat in the upcoming
Congressional elections. Blame the poor economy and high unemployment. The
crisis is something Obama inherited from his predecessor George W. Bush. Obama
countered with economic stimulus packages, which haven't sufficiently resolved
the issue.
If Obama made a mistake, it
was that he should've spent even more and increased the deficit further - even if it is already
at ten percent of GDP. But politically, that was simply
impossible.
What's so bizarre is that
opposition to Obama, rather than coming from the left due to high unemployment and
unfulfilled demands to further stimulate the economy - it is coming
from the right. Obama is being blamed for high unemployment and deficits. He is held responsible for both
the problem and the remedial action that had to be taken, such as
infrastructure spending, money for ailing states and an extension of
unemployment benefits.
Any sensible economist would
testify that unemployment would be much higher if Republican policies had
prevailed. Without the bailouts of banks undertaken by Bush and the stimulus
packages of Obama, the U.S. economy would probably have slipped into a
depression like that of the 1930s.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Now, it's difficult to demand
public acclaim for a crisis that has been prevented. But any halfway-intelligent
citizen should realize that the populist resistance of Tea Party leaders Sarah
Palin and Glenn Beck, as well as the opposition of a great majority of Democrats
to Obama, is nonsensical in terms of economic policy.
The hundreds of thousands who
gathered in Washington under Beck and Palin leadership on Saturday to
condemn Obama as a weak and tyrannical socialist, probably don't belong to that
former group. But the millions who voted for Obama in 2008 and are now leaning toward
candidates promising the exact opposite, can’t all be fanatical yokels.
The majority of Americans
will probably vote against their own interests and those of their country in
November. Unfortunately, that's not unusual.
As has been pointed out by a
number of political scientists and economists over the years - from Anthony Downs to Bryan Caplan, author of
the wonderful book The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose
Bad Policies, time and again, democracies have tended toward false and
destructive political decisions because they sounded appealing to the masses.
This isn't just an American
phenomenon. When you compare what experts in Austria recommend for tax, budget
and social policy, and then look at what emerges, one would have to arrive at a
similarly pessimistic assessment about the design of democratic politics: unreformable
federalism, pensions without end, open universities without fees or quality -
all of this reflects the true will of the majority.
And unfortunately, we can
expect the crisis not to change this either, that the 2011 budget will look be
a mix of tax- and savings measures with only one thing in common - it will
reflect the path of least resistance in regard to the population without
improving the long-term economic prospects of the country.
We,
too, can despair of democracy - even if we know there is no better alternative.
