Politics is NOT the Problem

Here are some examples of problems that are more important than most political issues:

—Failing to get a deserved promotion because the department manager resents your proven ability

—Being turned down for a university position for which one is eminently qualified because one's views differ from the status quo

—Getting a minuscule advertising budget from a publisher because one's novel does not take the view that life without Prozac is too painful

We can all agree that no one owes us a promotion, a position, an audience, or a fortune. We can also agree that with perseverance, even today, these obstacles can be overcome. (Although, one should not minimize the very real impact that additional years spent overcoming them can have both practically and psychologically.)

But, my purpose here is not to complain that the world is less ideal than would be, well, ideal. (Well, not today, anyway.)

I want, instead, to point out that while these are valid difficulties, none of them have any but the remotest connection to politics or living in less than a Jeffersonian system. That is a thoroughly Marxist view of society and I repudiate it. In other words, bad and good behavior do not begin and end with government. They would exist no matter its form.

Nevertheless, a large percentage of people, at all angles of the political rotunda, act as if fixing these issues were the most important thing in life. They spend a very large fraction of their time engaged in thinking about and discussing politics and large-scale social problems, writing essays or letters to the editor, participating in web forums, etc. This, as it happens, is particularly true of libertarians and Objectivists to whom I orient my remarks here.

There are, of course, good and valid reasons for this interest. In many respects, the world is far too far from ideal and many people, rightly enough, are motivated to try to do something about it. Consequent of the idealism that brings Ayn Rand fans to her work (and that is strengthened by it), such people think that if anyone is to do something about the situation it must be those who see what needs to be done.

It's also true that considerations of self-interest suggest that abandoning the field to the opposite camps is a recipe for a continued slide in an undesirable direction. Few, rightly so, want to see the wannabe totalitarians have free reign. That would likely result in a rapid decay into dictatorship which none of us want. The example of Nazi Germany is not so old as to be uninstructive.

Nevertheless, many who spend much time on the subject are engaged in efforts disproportionate to the risks and the value of any outcome they're likely to effect. In addition, their own personal problems are much more likely to be similar to those described at the outset — and too often take second priority.

Observe, for example, that those we admire — the Warren Buffets and Robert Noyces of the world, not to mention the lesser known but equally great Norman Fosters and James Dysons — spend a very small percentage of their time saying anything about politics. They devote most of their time to the pursuit of their personal goal of producing great products. (No, I don't know any of these individuals personally. I'm inferring based on the publicly available information and by analogy to similar individuals whom I do know.)

And, after all, how much of our lives is affected by government versus other social/interpersonal factors? Is that higher percentage of raise that went to the well-liked but mediocre-performing colleague the result of legislative decree? Is the humiliation heaped on your twelve-year-old, mathematically gifted child by the cretins at her private school the consequence of public education? Is the failure of your neighbor to restrain his enthusiasm for running his motorcycle over your yard at two a.m. an effect of excessive property taxes?

I'm not suggesting that no one should spend any time addressing issues of proper government and wider social issues. But when evaluating how much time, thought, and effort to devote to such things it's wise to remember that an excess of zeal for such activities can too easily lead to a collectivist view of what is important in life.

Life is lived every day in hundreds of different ways, not just in anticipation of some far-off future when we will have saved the country from the anti-liberty forces, important as working for the latter undoubtedly is.

Fixing your fence, working to transform a company into one that respects your efforts, building a healthy relationship with your spouse are all much more important than who is selected as the next Supreme Court justice. And much more in your control.

Certainly, lower taxes and fewer inappropriate regulations would increase the likelihood of finding a more just employer or enabling you to start your own business. Also, it’s true that a less expensive, more expansive set of private schools would, in the long run, tend to encourage more reasonable behavior. And many would properly be delighted to have lower property taxes and fewer absurd environmental regulations, encouraging the creation of less expensive homes with more surrounding area.

But these things, or the good effects that would follow, are almost certainly decades away (at least). While we spend some time working toward them, in the meantime it's well to remind ourselves that, despite some serious well-known problems, most in the Western world (and particularly in America) have a very high degree of personal freedom and comparatively healthy economic status. (The old saw is even more true today: Most of even the poorest have a much better life than the kings of two hundred years ago.)

Many would do well to spend less time thinking about this thing called Society and more time focusing on self, co-worker, neighbor, and family member. When these latter relations are improved to an appropriate degree the former will largely take care of itself. That is a valid form of 'spontaneous order'.

Now I'm going to take some of my own advice, and stop here to go fix my fence.


Jeffrey Perren is a novelist with a background in Physics and Philosophy. His latest novel, The Geisha Hummingbird (in progress), is the story of a ship designer whose fiancé disappears on the eve of her wedding, amidst a whirlpool of industrial espionage.