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Saturday 21 February 2009

…we cannot use moral precepts as fundamental principles that brook no contradiction. Pro-life people claim that the sanctity of life is absolute — but most of them have no objection to violating the sanctity of Islamic lives. Advocates of small government try to apply grand principles to show that government should not tax the people. I’m reminded here of the classic tale of Winston Churchill offering an English aristocratic woman 5 millions pounds to sleep with him. When she expressed a willingness to contemplate the idea, he then asked if she would be willing to sleep with him for 5 pounds. She responded rather huffily “What kind of woman do you think I am?” To which Mr. Churchill answered “We’ve already established that, now we’re merely determining the price.” Advocates of small government have already conceded the principle that government is necessary and desirable; beyond that, it’s only a matter of determining the price. We cannot dodge the complexities of policymaking by taking refuge in absolute moral principles, because there aren’t any absolute moral principles beyond the Golden Rule. Whenever we consider tax policy, legislation, public spending, or anything else that government does, we must rummage through all the implications and give each of them due consideration. There’s no shortcut to these answers. Chris Crawford

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