I’ve been meaning for a while to write a lunchtime post about when trust was lost in the US Government. There have been a number of incidents driving that question. We certainly see that lack of trust from the Tea Party / Libertarian sides of the aisle, where the basic belief seems to be that if the government is involved, it is bad… but if the free market is involved it is good. Urging that thought on this week was a piece in the LA Times titled “The NSA is watching. So are Google and Facebook“. The gist of that piece was something I’ve been saying for a long time — why do we distrust the government having limited tracking data, when we willingly give all sorts of private enterprises even more private data for them to use for their commercial advantage. Amazon knows what I like to buy and what I like to browse. I tell Facebook what I like, and it uses that to sell to my friends. To save a few cents, I tell supermarkets what I buy and where and when — from the meat I eat to the lubricants purchased for all sorts of purposes (now, keep your minds out of the gutter). Gas companies know where, when, and how far I drive. We have no problems giving all this data away, but because we think the government is untrustworthy, we worry about the NSA (and I’ve written earlier about why that fear of the NSA is likely misplaced). Sure we can trust the private companies. After all, they would never make it easier for third-party advertisers to target us (oh, but then again, they would).
But what if…
But what if…
Reading another article over lunch about the mess at Science Fiction conventions brought to mind my favorite adage: “Never ascribe to malice what you can to stupidity”. I have difficulty believing that our government, flawed as it is, is intentionally evil. However, I’m perfectly willing to believe that it is unintentionally stupid. Stupidity happens all the time, especially in government. Hell, you’re dealing with committees and bureaucracies, which are by definition stupid. Government stupidly believing that a FISA court is sufficient to protect rights is stupid naivete, not malice. The IRS believing that looking for political keywords is the right way to identify 501(c)(4) abuse is stupid naivete, not malice.
This then brings up another adage from a very wise Kindergarten teacher I once student taught for: “The first time you do something, it isn’t a mistake.” When dealing with unintentional stupidity, don’t assume malice the first time. Worry about the problem only after you have taught the correct way to behave, and the mistake still occurs. For the real stupid ones (read “government”), this make take a few times.
So, all together now, “Government isn’t evil… it’s stupid”.
Intentional Music: C’est Cheese (The Arrogant Worms): “History is Made by Stupid People”
