Shifting optimism and reason.

I have slowly but surely been thinking about politics in the abstract since beginning my PhD program. I ignore the news almost entirely. I hate the dialog of politics in America today. It is a horrible mix of buzz, drone, mewling, and nothing. Instead I've been reading tough books that change the way that I think about the world. As a former anti-war demonstrator, green-party voter, and all-around utopia dreamer, this is a very frightening path I take.

I choose to read The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek merely because it is on the list of the Modern Library's 100 best non-fiction works AND it is on the BF's bookshelf. WOW! This is not a casual read: it will change the way you think about politics and power.

Most simply put, the kind of redistribution we modern liberals (yes, I still identify as a liberal) encourage by government planning has many unintended consequences. It isn't a simple matter of taking some of the excess and handing it to the needy (but I hope that sometimes it is still that simple). It is a matter of who should have the power to set the priorities and redistribute equity. The answer isn't pretty. A good example: George W. Bush. Yes, I hated him with a fiery passion. Yes, I think he deserved that.

Think about how much power that man had. Where did it come from? We have been consolidating power into the Executive branch for many reasons. Large scale centralized governing started around the time of FDR and the New Deal (NOTE: I'm NOT a history expert). At some point this allows for leadership that we simply don't approve. Fortunately for us we maintain our checks and balances (to some extent) and our election system. Full blown socialism (think 1920's Germany) leads to Totalitarianism. Wow! I can't say I've ever really been given that set of ideas so cleanly and clearly. Yet there it is.

I start off my new year with a whole new set of ideas buzzing in my head. It leads me farther down the road of libertarianism. This is simply a place I NEVER thought I would walk. Sadly for my young idealistic memories, applying logic to politics takes me here. I still can't face the newspapers, but I'll work on it.