Can government save us?
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During the current financial “crisis,” I’ve thought a lot about the relationship between freedom and security. Free markets offer more opportunity for material prosperity than any other economic system. But with that freedom and potential for prosperity comes great risk, which means that economic security cannot be guaranteed.
When the economy slows down and people’s prosperity diminishes generally, and especially individually, people desire security, and some even demand it. They want government to step in and save them. They forget that though the risk associated with their freedom made their short-term setback possible; more importantly, it allows them to pursue and most often obtain long-term prosperity.
As Americans, we need to accept — even welcome — economic risk, especially when our immediate security is in question. It is that opportunity to pursue our happiness in the best way we know how that will make it possible to regain security.
Government can help us feel a little more secure, but that feeling is mostly false. Only we, through hard work and ingenuity, can improve and secure our own economic circumstances.
Rather than expect government to bail us out during tough times, we should endure challenges the best we can on our own; otherwise, when the storm eventually calms and the costs of government intervention are calculated, we’ll realize that some, or much, of our freedom is lost.
Paul Mero of the Sutherland Institute did an excellent radio spot on this topic, as it relates to LDS theology. It’s called “Is Freedom an Illusion?” You can read the transcript here.
What do you think?
I think that some people are very risk averse financially, which can make them interested in a steady, certain income without much risk. They may see governmental control as a way to obtain this. However, in the extreme, that seems like socialism. Sometimes we want to have our cake and eat it too–little risk with great rewards.
Comment by Steve P — March 20, 2009 @ 9:38 am
Very insightful!
From,
your sutherland colleague
Comment by Lisa Johnson — March 20, 2009 @ 9:53 am
I think so much of the problem is many people looking to and waiting for government to solve all their problems–especially financial ones. It’s amazing how very many people don’t live within their means or save anything for a rainy day; they don’t seem to know how. I do think there are many who aren’t educated and don’t earn enough to sustain themselves, but all the stuff that the government has done in the past years has really pulled us down; not to mention the greedy guts who have spent out of control and taken huge bonuses for themselves.
Comment by JP — March 20, 2009 @ 1:31 pm