Trade-Offs

 

“There are no solutions, only trade-offs.” – Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell gets most things right.  And he was spot on with this comment.  He was making the point that when intellectuals, the so-called “Elite”, presume to know what’s best and prescribe remedies that will “solve” the ills of society or end all wars or save the planet; they tend to focus primarily on the benefits of their choices, underestimating the costs and failing to prepare for the unintended consequences of their actions.

While Progressives seem to fall into this trap more often than conservatives, by no means have they cornered the market when it comes to tunnel vision and bad ideas.  The Neo-Cons dream of establishing democracies in the Middle East comes to mind.  And today far-right conservatives tend to ignore the costly trade-offs and unintended consequences of their policies on such things as abortion rights and immigration, forgetting that “the perfect is the enemy of the good”.

California is the poster child for ignoring the trade-offs attendant with their decisions.  For decades their Progressive politicians have been on a mission to solve every environmental issue, real or imagined, large or small with the result being the disastrous failure to effectively prevent and manage wildfire events. Protecting all living things may seem like the pinnacle of virtue, but at what cost?  There are no solutions, only trade-offs.

As Donald Trump and his team take the field in Washington they would do well to remember “the trade-offs”.  Trade-offs regarding such things as tariffs, immigration reform, reducing government spending, making deals with Russia or attempting to establish peace in the Middle East.  Even “drill baby drill”, as good as it may sound, comes with tradeoffs.

Unfortunately, politicians do not get re-elected by taking a balanced approach and honestly presenting the trade-offs associated with various policy initiatives.  These days the favored approach is to go all-in, tell your constituents what they want to hear, ignore the trade-offs… and when things go wrong, just blame the other Party while preparing for the next election.