Posted by
Scotch Indian on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 6:30:28 PM
The “holier than thou” argument – when a university professor, activist, movie star or liberal politician promotes a grandiose program to help the poor, crass standards like “cost/benefit”, “measurable outcomes”, or “unintended consequences” are inappropriate. After all, it’s not the result that is important, but the intent. The failure of the Great Society welfare programs is not viewed as a cautionary example, but as a reason to develop more new and more grandiose government programs. Thomas Sowell aptly describes this as “self congratulation as a basis for policy”.