Skip to main content

Recommended Article By ConservaChick: Mencken on Merchants of Idiotic Ideas

Hi ConservaChick Readers,
Your friend, ConservaChick, has recommended this article entitled 'Mencken on Merchants of Idiotic Ideas' to you.

Here is his/her remark:
This is a great commentary! Thanks to ALG for including this in their newsletter. I'll have to check out this guy's site more often!

Mencken on Merchants of Idiotic Ideas
Posted By Don Boudreaux On March 3, 2010 (9:57 am) In Health, Hubris and humility, Man of System

Last night, driving back from teaching my wonderful Principles of Microeconomics students, I heard on a DC radio station an interview with an aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi approvingly repeat Pres. Obama’s insistence that, once those Americans who now oppose Obamacare actually get that care, they’ll grow to love it.

This outcome is unlikely – or, rather, it would be unlikely if all the problems with collective decision-making (as identified by public-choice economics) didn’t distort political perceptions.

As H.L. Mencken observed

The kind of man who demands that government enforce his ideas is always the kind whose ideas are idiotic.*

Being sensible, sensible ideas seldom must be imposed by force.  Sometimes sensible ideas are adopted gradually, as practices with widespread advantages displace less-advantageous practices and become part of customary behavior.  Sometimes sensible ideas are adopted consciously and quickly, through the art of persuasion or the rigors of scientific demonstration.

In contrast, idiotic ideas have nothing going for them.  Most people who voluntarily adopt idiotic ideas in their private lives soon abandon them if these ideas hamper their ability to thrive in the real world.  The only way to implement an idiotic idea widely and surely is through force – which is the root of Obamacare.

….

*p. 622 of A Mencken Chrestomathy

Article taken from Cafe Hayek - http://cafehayek.com
URL to article: http://cafehayek.com/2010/03/mencken-on-merchants-of-idiotic-ideas.html

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Louisville Tea Party -- July 4, 2009

Help us make it known to Comrade Obama and his goons on Capitol Hill that July 4th is INdependence Day , not COdependence day! Louisville's patriots are throwing a TEA Party on Saturday, July 4th in Jefferson Square (6th and Jefferson) from 11am - 2pm. Hope to see you there!!

Friday Night with Hugh and Friends

The consummate Conservative host, Hugh Hewitt, and yours truly! Shameless of me to post this, I know; however, I'm too jazzed to care. :-p What a wonderful way to spend a Friday night! After an hour or so wandering through some of the exhibits at the Frazier Historical Arms Museum, I then got to spend three hours with Hugh Hewitt and 599 other fans of his show. I absolutely MUST say that not only was Hugh wonderful and the live show very entertaining, but his fans are absolutely the nicest people! I've seen other radio talk show s done live and mingled with fans of those shows. Hugh Hewitt's fans are the nicest, most down to earth, friendly people I've ever met. It's quite a credit to Hugh that he draws such a fan base. If you haven't been to the Frazier Historical Arms Museum here in Louisville, it's a must-see. The museum shows an amazing artistry with the exhibits and places them in the context of the times in a very entertaining and educationa

As the Blog Turns...

Gee. I have found myself fascinated by the soap opera unfolding in the comments section of this blog since last night. One little mention on a controversial Democrat's blog and it's High Noon on ConservaChick! (Yes, I'm laughing while I type this.) For those of you who have no idea what's happening in the ever-expanding comments section , join the club! Here's what I know about Mark Nickolas from bits and pieces I've read on his blog, and from a local news report: Nickolas likes to sneer at Republicans and call them snide little nicknames as he provides his "Unfiltered and Candid Look at Politics, Politicians and the Media in Kentucky;" he raised a ruckus within the Democrat party here in Kentucky by filing a suit against the chairman of the party , Jerry Lundergan; and he will be appearing on the same panel with yours truly on Thursday night. That's about it. You now have the benefit of my not-so-extensive knowledge on this subject. Nickolas poste