I’ve seen a couple critiques of sclerotic bureaucracy lately that feel insightful but a little off to me. (https://americanmind.org/features/the-green-zone-plan/burst-the-complacency-bubble-before-its-too-late/ …, https://medium.com/@curtis.yarvin/plan-a-for-the-coronavirus-7db3997490c1 …, https://medium.com/incerto/the-intellectual-yet-idiot-13211e2d0577 …)
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They all primarily focus on calling the officious “expert” bureaucrats *incompetent*. “Complacent”, “idiot”, etc. The tone is primarily one of contempt. “These people have proven terrible at their jobs in a crisis; let’s fire them and put someone competent in charge.”
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This is rhetorically effective — it goes on the offense, it makes the author look strong — but I think it’s a misplaced emphasis.
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Yes, the WHO, the CDC, the FDA, and the Trump administration have screwed up so badly that they should lose all credibility.
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But really the problem isn’t that there exist people who are bad at stemming a pandemic. Being an idiot, in itself, doesn’t have to harm anyone. What’s dangerous is idiots *in positions of authority.*
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If you don’t have good solutions to COVID19 that doesn’t make you a bad person. If you don’t have good solutions but you send men with guns after the people who do, *now* you have blood on your hands.
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We do not, in fact, have a shortage of competence, dedication, courage, or generosity. A lot of people have risen to the occasion spectacularly, and a lot more would do so if they had clearer guidance about how they can help.
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Replying to @s_r_constantin
I disagree. Perhaps the rest we have plenty of, but we have a severe, society-wide shortage of competence, and have always had one.
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Replying to @perrymetzger
I think it ought to be possible to support *as many incompetent people* as there are currently administrators, pundits, and politicians. It’s just not that large a fraction of the population.
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Replying to @s_r_constantin
How many competent people are there, in toto? Can you have enough of them, any more than you can have enough labor? I think the answer is we don't have many, we clearly have too few, and it's always strictly better to have more.
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You’re not wrong, I just kind of chafe at being *ordered* to become competent.
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Replying to @s_r_constantin
One can no more be ordered to become competent than one can be ordered to become a seagull.
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