What Drives Effective Policy?
October 17th, 2006 | Posted in Politics, Responsibility, Society
I changed the tag line of this site a few days ago to, “Common Sense for the Common Good”. I don’t know if someone else on the web is using it, if it’s copyrighted, or if it sounds stupid to other people, but to me it makes sense. It is the phrase that drives my views on issues environmental, social and political.
The old tag line was “The Beginning of Everything Green”. It wasn’t too bad but it was a little vague while simultaneously seeming too oriented to environmental (nature) issues when my focus is really environmental (what we affect and what affects us) issues. Got it? Now that that’s settled, on to what’s on my mind today.
What drives effective policy? It’s a topic more philosophical than usually discussed here but is on my mind because of a piece by David Brooks in the New York Times today. His article is called, “Human nature is the basis for good policy”. He talks about three groups of people: (1) religious conservatives, (2) social libertarians and (3) social traditionalists, and how each thinks about government. Brooks says:
“Some people are religious conservatives who believe that policies should align with the transcendent moral order of the universe. Other people are social libertarians who believe that government should be neutral on values issues and that individuals should be guaranteed their own private space to work out their own solutions to moral questions.”
He continues:
“But others of us are social traditionalists. We differ from religious conservatives in that we’re not sure about a transcendent moral order, and we think it’s too sectarian and too lofty to try to pattern government policies on God’s law. We also disagree with social libertarians. We don’t think government can be neutral on value issues. Nations are held together by shared beliefs. People flourish because they have been encouraged by society to adopt certain habits and behaviors. Human beings are social creatures whose actions and views are profoundly shaped by the social fabric that binds them.”
Brooks’ biggest claim in the piece is that “We traditionalists observe that when policies fail, it’s usually because they are based on inaccurate assumptions about human nature.” I don’t entirely agree with this. Sometimes policies fail because they aren’t strong enough to control the weaknesses in human beings created by failed institutions (schools, government, etc . . .). This brings us back to his claim regarding what social traditionalists stand for. He says:
“Today, while religious conservatives and social libertarians have their culture war flashpoints, traditionalists are interested in how to strengthen institutions that breed responsible people.”
I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with his claim on which group represents which ideal but I do agree that strengthening institutions to breed responsible people is vital. It’s the key to sustainability at all levels. Responsible people eliminate the need for Draconian laws, the moral police and hopefully, Republicans. I hope I see a day where policy is (once again?) drive by common sense and the notion that our institutions will only be sustainable if they breed responsible enough people to lead us into tomorrow.
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