any of various types of erroneous reasoning that render
arguments logically unsound.
Do you...
believe in our Constitution with its different branches and its
separation of powers?
support the idea that The State should be managed by elected
representatives?
oppose monarchies, dictatorships, and other authoritarian forms of
The State?
I bet you'd answer "Yes" to all of these questions.
Despite answering yes, nearly everyone pretends, at some point, that
they can design laws and programs that manage human behavior, leading
to an ideal social result.
Maybe even you believe you know the best way to solve a particular
societal problem with a better organizational solution.
Perhaps you admire and support a particular candidate who claims he
has just the right incentive, program, or regulation that will do the
trick.
Well, if you ever catch yourself (or another person), making such a
pronouncement, then you can KNOW that either you (or they) are wrong.
You see... when you have "a government of the people, by the people, and for the
people," YOUR "grand design" won't work. Why?
Unfortunately, other people will also be involved. This is, after all,
a representative government with separation of powers. Your scheme
will be touched and affected by lobbyists, legislators, bureaucrats,
and judges. Then it will be imposed on a group of people, many of whom
will NOT cheerfully cooperate because they do NOT appreciate your
brilliance.
By failing to appreciate these events, you have fallen victim to the
Dictator Fallacy.
The Dictator Fallacy is the belief that any law or program will be
implemented in just the way you intended—as if you were the king. Your more perfect vision could only be actualized if you were the
czar. Yet to want that power would be to denounce the Constitutional
principles and representative democracy that you claim to adore.
There are at least six major ways your plan will go awry.
First, the legislative branch will have its say. They'll wheel and
deal. They'll modify your perfect design. Senator Foghorn will secure
a new federal building in return for his vote, while hordes of
lobbyists will secure exemptions, loopholes, or extra benefits for
their clients.
Second, the executive branch will then interpret the law. They will
mangle your plan to fit their political goals. In accordance with The
Slippery Slope Law of The State, bureaucrats and prosecutors will work
diligently to stretch the limited power you intended to convey so that
your focused plan will become swollen, unfocused, and perhaps, even
abusive.
Third, the Courts will get in on the act too, forbidding some aspects
of your design, while permitting other things you never intended. By
this point, you might not even recognize your plan.
Fourth, the People will then react to the law. Some will comply;
others will resist. Nearly everyone will look for loopholes.
Attorneys, accountants, and consultants of all stripes will have a new
industry, vested in navigating around your law to the greatest degree
possible.
Fifth, the real "unintended consequences" of your plan will begin to
manifest themselves. You may even discover what most policymakers
experience; your proposal will boomerang, worsening the very problem
you presumed to fix. Consider these examples . . .
laws to curb narcotic use will entangle children in the violent,
black-market drug trade
fancy plans to restrict gun ownership will coincide with an
increase in burglaries in your own neighborhood
Reality will laugh at your good intentions.
And here, we must go down an important rabbit trail. When our program
fails, it is easy to be blind to the obvious. The very normal human
reaction is to assume that things would've worked better if only our
intelligent design had been followed -- that our uniquely brilliant
scheme could've made The State more efficient and effective. We...
bemoan the fact that legislators, bureaucrats, and judges mutilated
our plans.
complain that the people weren't made to see how this was for their
own good.
Now, hopefully, it's evident. We'll NEVER witness your wonderful, pet
plans, materialize. The only way that your more perfect vision could
possibly have been implemented, was if YOU were the king.
Sixth, comes the most brutal blow of all. The power you give a politician you love to do something you favor, is... the same power that people you abhor will use to do things you
oppose.
Since you aren't a dictator you simply have to accept that
officeholders change. Partisan majorities switch hands. The power you
wanted to give to good people will always end up in the hands of bad
people.
But for too many would-be dictators, "unintended consequences" simply
means that they never intended for their opposition to acquire power
again.
This is the trap that snares naive, do-gooders who...
fantasize about what they would do if they were the boss, while
forgetting that they supposedly despise dictators.
fail to take into account that the people who really run things
aren't as brilliant or purely motivated as they are.
Do you ever support expanding The State because you imagine that a
larger State would do things the way you would do them if you were in
charge? If so, then you have made yourself (and others) a victim of
the Dictator Fallacy.
The Dictator Fallacy means that no matter how well-intentioned you
are, no matter how good you think your idea is, your new regulation or
initiative to solve a problem won't...
be passed by you,
administered by you, or
adjudicated by you.
Nor will...
everyone cooperate with your scheme.
the new powers you create always be controlled by people you like.
You must choose...
A limited constitutional republic, or...
The horrifying Frankenstein creations that result from The Dictator
Fallacy.
Note: The concept of the "Dictator Syndrome" was created by Downsize DC
co-founder, Harry Browne, in chapter five of his 1995 book, "Why
Government Doesn't Work." That chapter was titled, "If You Were King
(The Dictator Syndrome)." http://harrybrowne.org
### 2011 January 17
Posted by The Coffee Coaster™ w/approval of DDC
Dictator Syndrome | Harry Browne | If You
Were King | Dictator Fallacy
The Downsize DC Foundation's Website
