Salvation By Force?
25 July 2006
The Editor, New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
Reading Michael Dukakis's and Daniel J. B. Mitchell's suggestions for helping the poor ("Raise Wages, Not Walls," July 25) - government should raise the minimum wage and mandate more generous fringe benefits - reveals to me the fundamental sameness of left-liberals and neo-conservatives. Impatient for the world to be ideal, both groups seek to make it so by using force. Ignoring the innumerable, complex, and inescapable details of reality, they dismiss the importance of process and the certainty of unintended consequences as they cling to their childish belief that desirable results require the forceful, fashioning hand of a conscious designer.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
The Editor, New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
Reading Michael Dukakis's and Daniel J. B. Mitchell's suggestions for helping the poor ("Raise Wages, Not Walls," July 25) - government should raise the minimum wage and mandate more generous fringe benefits - reveals to me the fundamental sameness of left-liberals and neo-conservatives. Impatient for the world to be ideal, both groups seek to make it so by using force. Ignoring the innumerable, complex, and inescapable details of reality, they dismiss the importance of process and the certainty of unintended consequences as they cling to their childish belief that desirable results require the forceful, fashioning hand of a conscious designer.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Saturday April 21, 2007 at 1:25pm