The No Plan Plan

The current Obama-Biden talking point is, essentially, that McCain-Palin is not presenting detailed policy perscriptions--that the Republicans are not running on issues. The observation the Democrats are making is, more or less, correct. And it highlights the fundamental difference between the two parties. Relative to Democrats, the Republican platform is a closer approximation to classically liberal philosophy. Republicans stray from this philosophy on some issues* but, on balance, they embrace a Hayakian understanding of the complexity of economic and political policy. In doing so, Republicans generally reject the temptation to develop untenable plans for systems for which top down management is ineffective at best. The alternative to developing detailed plans is to empower individuals and encourage emergent order and efficiency. What can be described as the lack of a plan is, in fact, a "plan" which seeks the market (in the broadest possible sense of the word) benefits of greater individual freedom and less government intrusion.

To those of us who subscribe to this philosophy, the concept of a "community organizer" is an ideological oxymoron with a dangerous and destructive mission. A country (and an economy) is not a company. "It" is not a household. "It" is not softball team. "It" is not a Thanksgiving dinner. A country and the economy are, in fact, abstract concepts--they are composed of millions of individuals with unique interests which cannot be aggregated and uncountably many pieces of unknowable information about the interactions between those individuals and available resources. To attempt to manage "it" is to assume capabilities which simply do not exist and to put power in the hands of individuals who are not only unqualified, but also dangerously confused about what can be accomplished with a plan.

Being the smart guy he is and coming from U Chicago, I assume Obama understands, but rejects, this notion. True, the hope embodied in policy plans is quite inspiring and attractive. And surely there is a human tendency to attempt to control your destiny. However, I find the implicit admission of the limitations of government plans in favor of the pursuit of individual freedom and choice considerably more attractive--even ethically superior. This is why, despite my growing distaste for politics generally, I still have the stomach to support the Republican party.

*Some social issues are, of course, the great exception.