Robert Samuelson's column reminded me of Aesop’s fable about the Shepherd's Boy and the Wolf.
"Most of us don't want to imagine future problems and horrors that could alter life as we know it. So we don't. We are, in any case, overwhelmed by predicted "crises" (terrorism, global warming, economic meltdowns, budget crackups and so forth), which are aggressively merchandised by ambitious politicians, energetic advocacy groups and an adversarial media. It is hard to know which of these menaces pose genuine threats and which are impostors. The unrelenting alarmism numbs us. Moreover, doing something about most of these purported dangers would be costly, inconvenient and contentious. To save our way of life, we need to alter our way of life".
It is if the village elders had a host of boys, each warning of a different wolf:
- “The hurricane wolf is coming” says one. But the hurricane didn’t come.
- “The global warming wolf is coming” says a second. But some experts claim that the boy is “crying wolf.”
- “The social security crisis is coming’ says a third.
- “The energy crisis is coming.” Yet consumers intuitively know that their disposable income is higher than it was in the early 80’s – and keep buying SUV’s.
Now instead of Shepherd’s boys we have politicians, journalists, talk-show hosts and bloggers – all looking for attention.
The village elders – the public – get tired of getting out of bed to look for wolves that aren’t coming. They go back to doing whatever they were doing. Then the hurricane comes. The problem is: no one can tell the elders which wolf will be next.
If local communities can’t count on the national level elders, they had best look to themselves. A strong local community will better able to respond. The National Guard (God Bless them, they are doing a great job.) may not get there before the wolf does.
It is if the village elders had a host of boys, each warning of a different wolf:
- “The hurricane wolf is coming” says one. But the hurricane didn’t come.
- “The global warming wolf is coming” says a second. But some experts claim that the boy is “crying wolf.”
- “The social security crisis is coming’ says a third.
- “The energy crisis is coming.” Yet consumers intuitively know that their disposable income is higher than it was in the early 80’s – and keep buying SUV’s.
Now instead of Shepherd’s boys we have politicians, journalists, talk-show hosts and bloggers – all looking for attention.
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