Wrong Troops, Wrong Gulf, Wrong Time
The Partial Observer - Wrong Troops, Wrong Gulf, Wrong Time, by James Leroy Wilson
Do you think that the disaster in New Orleans demonstrates why we need government? James Leroy Wilson points out that the government caused the escalation of the disaster. The disaster in New Orleans is an example of what happens when we allow government to set our priorities and spend our money.
But some eventualities are more likely then others. "Given enough time, anything can happen," but there's a difference between a one-in-ten chance of a certain natural disaster occurring this year, and a one-in-a-million chance of some other disaster happening.
I wonder what the planners and officials thought the probability of a Category 5 hurricane hitting near New Orleans would be. Maybe it was a mistake to build the city where it is. But since it was built, and became the fifth largest port in the world, the national and world economy had a special interest that it not be destroyed. Were the levees strong enough and high enough to resist the worst storms that could reasonably be expected? Were there plans to strengthen the city's defenses? Was there funding for such plans?
Federal funding to shore up the levees in New Orleans is not quite the same as throwing federal money at routine road maintenance or museums. Those are indeed examples of "pork barrel spending projects." The importance of New Orleans was realized as far back as Jefferson's day - it was the water gateway to the Midwest. If we are to have national governments and an Army Corps of Engineers engaged in "public works" projects, there are few as important as this…
This is what governments do. They misallocate resources. Setting aside any sinister motives and high corruption, even supposedly well-intentioned governments fail to do their job. As the Austrian School of Economics has long held, government planners do not have enough information to establish priorities. You would think that the economic well-being of the Midwest would be a higher priority than the Middle East, that the states of the Gulf of Mexico were more important than the states of the Persian Gulf. That President Bush and Congress would know that the levees of New Orleans were more crucial to America's welfare and security, than the leveling of Fallujah. That they knew their responsibility is to govern the United States, not the world.
But the ambition inherent in politics - the chance for fame and a "place in history," lies in trying to bring peace to the Middle East, in being known as a "courageous wartime leader," in defeating the Hitler of the hour. It doesn't lie in mundane spending bills.
And that's why, in a very real way, we lost New Orleans in the War on Iraq.
Do you think that the disaster in New Orleans demonstrates why we need government? James Leroy Wilson points out that the government caused the escalation of the disaster. The disaster in New Orleans is an example of what happens when we allow government to set our priorities and spend our money.
But some eventualities are more likely then others. "Given enough time, anything can happen," but there's a difference between a one-in-ten chance of a certain natural disaster occurring this year, and a one-in-a-million chance of some other disaster happening.
I wonder what the planners and officials thought the probability of a Category 5 hurricane hitting near New Orleans would be. Maybe it was a mistake to build the city where it is. But since it was built, and became the fifth largest port in the world, the national and world economy had a special interest that it not be destroyed. Were the levees strong enough and high enough to resist the worst storms that could reasonably be expected? Were there plans to strengthen the city's defenses? Was there funding for such plans?
Federal funding to shore up the levees in New Orleans is not quite the same as throwing federal money at routine road maintenance or museums. Those are indeed examples of "pork barrel spending projects." The importance of New Orleans was realized as far back as Jefferson's day - it was the water gateway to the Midwest. If we are to have national governments and an Army Corps of Engineers engaged in "public works" projects, there are few as important as this…
This is what governments do. They misallocate resources. Setting aside any sinister motives and high corruption, even supposedly well-intentioned governments fail to do their job. As the Austrian School of Economics has long held, government planners do not have enough information to establish priorities. You would think that the economic well-being of the Midwest would be a higher priority than the Middle East, that the states of the Gulf of Mexico were more important than the states of the Persian Gulf. That President Bush and Congress would know that the levees of New Orleans were more crucial to America's welfare and security, than the leveling of Fallujah. That they knew their responsibility is to govern the United States, not the world.
But the ambition inherent in politics - the chance for fame and a "place in history," lies in trying to bring peace to the Middle East, in being known as a "courageous wartime leader," in defeating the Hitler of the hour. It doesn't lie in mundane spending bills.
And that's why, in a very real way, we lost New Orleans in the War on Iraq.
Grace, Love & Peace August Ecklund at 8:42 PM
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