Hayek, Civilization, and President Bush
In Friedrich Hayek’s “The Constitution of Liberty”, he lays the groundwork for his argument for liberty in part through the idea that advances in civilization come in the form of the ability of an individual to take advantage of knowledge he does not possess:
“In other words, it is largely because civilization enables us constantly to profit from knowledge which we individually do not possess and because each individual’s use of his particular knowledge may serve to assist others unknown to him in achieving their ends that men as members of civilized society can pursue their individual ends so much more successfully than they could alone… The more civilized we become, the more relatively ignorant must each individual be of the facts on which the working of his civilization depends. The very division of knowledge increases the necessary ignorance of the individual of most of this knowledge.”
Without a doubt, this is an important observation, both through the part it plays in Hayek’s philosophy and through the lessons in leadership it can provide.
If one considers how this applies to President Bush, it provides a critique slightly more nuanced than the common refrain related to his intelligence. Questions of intelligence aside, his appointment of cronies to head various offices is a fact no impartial observer would dispute. By selecting appointees based on loyalty rather than competence, he has crippled his ability to take advantage of knowledge he does not possess.
One thing I’ve heard several times is the suggestion that [insert name here] is too hard on President Bush, and that Bush is doing the best job he can. There are two appropriate responses to this:
1. From Get Your War On, this cartoon:
2. Yes, in some cases, he probably is doing the best job he can. By relying on cronies rather than fully competent people, however, he has made “the best job he can do” a lot worse than it should be. It’s like saying that someone who has climbed into a car, stabbed himself once in each eye with an icepick, and proceeded to try to drive to the store is doing the best job he can. Sure, he’s trying not to hit things, but he’s made it pretty difficult for himself.
Lesson for future Presidents: Jackson’s “Spoils System” provides a nice way to repay political favors, but it has the unfortunate drawback, one that has worsened in modern times, of making your administration worse at doing its job. One of your most important duties to the American people is to appoint competent people to each and every position. So when you consider your legacy, remember that history won’t catch every bad appointment you make, but some are bound to hurt you in the long run.