There is a peculiar superstition in declining societies that saying something is approximately equivalent to doing something, and the superstition becomes stronger precisely as the society becomes less capable of accomplishing anything difficult. A committee announces a strategy and behaves as though it has pursued one; an institution publishes a declaration and congratulates itself for…
Tag: Function
Too Late For Reform
A healthy political order works the way any durable human institution works. It has a purpose that can be named without embarrassment. It has offices with real authority, boundaries with real meaning, and a chain of responsibility that can be followed from decision to consequence without getting lost in fog. It produces outcomes that ordinary…
Assessing Claimed Intentions
The parable of the motorcycle helmet is a story about first aid the way a flight simulator is about video games. Yes, there is a helmet. Yes, there is a neck. But the point is not trauma care. The point is governance, responsibility, and the basic epistemic distinction between a one-off mistake and a stable…