The Mad Hatter's Tea Party
In the Disney version, when the Mad Hatter tells Alice about the phenomenon of the un-birthday, she's skeptical. He then says: "I shall elucidate!" His explanation makes sense but the entire enterprise is utter nonsense. We have reached the point in our society when nonsensical situations are validated by excuses derived from a complete blindness to the absurdity of the premise itself. Down the rabbit hole we go.
Today's looking-glass experience comes from The New York Times arguing that we must gently help confused citizens decide which college to go to:
If the federal government makes it mandatory to disclose this information in a clear and consistent way, as it should, families will be better able to make informed college choices. And this will help put pressure on colleges that fare poorly to improve.
Critics may cast this initiative as an example of government overreach. But given that the federal government spends nearly $190 billion a year on higher education aid to students, it has a legitimate interest in making sure that the money flows to the schools that best meet their responsibilities to families and students.
The federal government already has its hands in something outside its jurisdiction, ergo it is justified in going even further.
A VERY MERRY UN-BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
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Comments:
May '10
Re: The Mad Hatter's Tea Party
Maura Pennington:
The federal government already has its hands in something outside its jurisdiction, ergo it is justified in going even further.
I had this argument with my friend last week about the new contraception mandate. He said since the government is already going to mandate that employers provide medical insurance to their employees, it therefore must also mandate that they provide contraception coverage.
What is going on?
Mar '11
Re: The Mad Hatter's Tea Party
"What sort of people live about here?"
"In that direction," the Cat said, waving its right paw round, "lives a Hatter: and in that direction," waving the other paw, "lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad."
"But I don't want to go about mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here..."
May '10
Re: The Mad Hatter's Tea Party
When The New York Times writes,"Critics may cast this initiative as an example of government overreach...," you can be pretty sure it's an example of government overreach.
Dec '10
Re: The Mad Hatter's Tea Party
Maura,
NSF, NIH, NEH, NEA.
I asked my Father once what the difference was between the NSF and the NIH. (He had a grant running from each at the time.) He said, "Jim, sometimes the NIH get's a little emotional. The NSF comes in and straightens them out. You see Jim, at the NIH they think they're saving lives."
I was quite dumbstruck by this. Yet it makes sense. Even the very best of intentions can cloud your judgement. TRUTH is the most important thing when you want knowledge.
To have a single giant Stalinist beauracracy deciding where when and how you should go to a University is breathtaking in it's stupidity. Our strength has been our real diversity of opinion. Not the phoney diversity of gender, race, national origin and age.
Evil is just Evil after all.
Regards,
Jim
Aug '10
Re: The Mad Hatter's Tea Party
Maura Pennington:
The federal government already has its hands in something outside its jurisdiction, ergo it is justified in going even further.
Unfortunately, there's a cruel and relentless logic to this, especially when it comes to accounting and budgeting.
Once the government starts paying for something it shouldn't have, it's only logical that it be pressured into not wasting "too much" of the taxpayers' money on that thing.
Also, once something morphs (however twistedly) into a "legitimate government concern", it's only natural that interested parties will try to pressure the "legitimate government concern" to reflect what they believe to be "the will of the people".
It's all perfectly logical. Insanity often is, once you accept its premises. Look at how poor ol' Gödel ended up.
Nov '10
Re: The Mad Hatter's Tea Party
I hope that I can be forgiven for, just a fleeting moment, thinking that The New York Times was in favor of school choice...
Nov '10
Re: The Mad Hatter's Tea Party
I don't know about "even further." This same federal government already mandates how long in advance every professor must select textbooks. You can't micromanage more than that. It's just in a different direction.
Oct '10
Re: The Mad Hatter's Tea Party
I'm confused. The federal government wastes a lot of money on subsidized student loans and grants, to students who get useless degrees from sub-standard universities.
Besides, any marketplace requires accurate information. Regulations to enhance transparency is usually supported by economists, including right-wing ones, since it makes the market work better.
We'd all prefer federal subsidies to disappear, of course. In the long run, that would lower the cost of college and increase its quality (dramatically)--but in the short run, any politician who does so will live in political infamy, and not survive the next election. When education inflation gets so bad that even with subsidies only rich kids can go to college, then politicians will be able to remove the damn things.