(Two years pass)
by john
The existence of the rule of law and secure property rights is, where it exists, a triumph of public integrity against the assumption of cynicism.
Beyond the flip dismissal of public choice economics, there’s a point here that I’ve been thinking for a long time about how to make effectively: our government is organized so that its functioning doesn’t depend directly on the personal character of our government officials, and that’s a good thing. But it’s a mistake to extend this by analogy to society as a whole. A state can function with the minimum input from its citizens (pay taxes, obey laws, not much else) but a healthy society cannot — there’s a moral and ethical dimension to citizenship that’s totally left out of economics’ cynical picture of human motivation.
Anyway, there’s your unargued assertion for the day. Maybe I’ll leave it as a loose end so that I’m tempted to come back and tie it up later.
