Reader Bonnie asks, in the matter of Milton Friedman on free enterprise (state vs. individual), “i don’t think it’s too much to ask for the government to protect the public from sociopaths like madoff and all the other creeps who have been let loose to take advantage of people through the years…….”
I asked in response, “Quis custodiet custodes?” and refer her to this from Wikipedia:
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? is a Latin phrase from the Roman poet Juvenal [worth perusing, by the way; his satires ring true for us, allowing for adjustments], which literally translates to “Who will guard the guards themselves,” and is variously translated . . . as “Who watches the watchmen?”, “Who watches the watchers?”, “Who will guard the guards?”, “Who shall watch the watchers?” or other similar translations.
That is to say, we do have a problem with governmental protectors, do we not? Take Congr. Barney Frank, in bed with the Fannie May boy friend and telling us not to worry, and Sen. Chris Dodd, apparently on the take (Chris won’t show the long-promised records) from Countrywide, over whom he was supposed to exercise oversight.
Plato had an ideal solution to the problem, one worthy of J. Swift if not intended that way. This is also from Wikipedia, with apologies for not doing my own research into The Republic.
We must tell the guardians a “noble lie.” The noble lie will inform them that they are better than those they serve and it is therefore their responsibility to guard and protect those lesser than themselves. We will instill in them a distaste for power or privilege; they will rule because they believe it right, not because they desire it.
That’s about right for and about statists — in this context read easily discovered members of the so-called Democratic party.
Meanwhile, the rest of us should doff our naive belief in government as problem-solver, rembering R. Reagan’ words, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”
