George Will, in the persona of his columns in the Washington Post, has been a presence at our breakfast table for years. His stately prose in defense of all things conservative bemuses and irks in ways that make the vitriol of a Charles Krauthammer seem petty (though that is a standard met by many). What particularly bemuses me is Will's superb craftmanship in concocting special pleas. What irks me is his use of that great talent for such forlorn causes.
Many years ago, I took a course on logic and semantics that the professor genially subtitled "How To Win a Crooked Argument." It was a marvellous review of logical fallacies, semantic loadings, invidious comparisons, analogy extensions, etc., that served to sensitize us to the multitude of forms a specious argument can take. George is master of them all, and to study his tradecraft in the morning paper is a delight, sometimes.
But occasionally his true dreams show through, and in them we perceive landscapes that haunt. Take for example, his column of December 8, titled "Indigestion over Obamacare." George always includes enough truth to be interesting, so let us track some of his truths to see what they reveal.
But first, let us applaud his skill in taking the views of one employer, without seeking the views of his employees, and making them serve as a supposed microcosm of supposed vices of the entire "Welfare State." That was a fallacy of scale truly worthy of George. We will in his honor, of course forget the public policy maxim that "Extreme examples make bad policy." We will also, in George's honor, forgive his uplifting of a "model" business with a 95 percent annual employee turnover rate as one on which his analysis of national public health policy is based. As we forgive his surely absent minded failure to mention profit margins and executive compensation when citing "the growth of its (the business's) burdens under Obamacare." And of course, his applause of tax evasion and of reluctance to pay workers compensation for potential employee injury is understandable. .He surely would likewise have applauded the firm employer handling of discontent during the historic Pullman Strike.
Now, to work. Mr. Will cites as a national issue the $1.75 trillion cost (in 2008) of federal regulations. We shall posit that as true, if incomplete, (though some may differ.) For perspective, we note that the $1.75 trillion represents 22 percent of the net worth of American millionaires at about the same time, equivalent to a modest inheritance tax, if only there had been one. (How's that for a comparison, George?) That will of course include the thousands of government work hours spent to figure out language that crooked employers can't evade, the billions spent on testing for food contamination and for fraudulantly engineered road and bridge construction, the millions of dollars spent by businesses on lawyers to find ways to evade safety and health regulations, etc., but probably doesn't include the savings of thousands of medical work hours of treatment for food poisoning and savings from the sick leave not spent for injuries from accidents that didn't occur because of regulations, etc. Which is a little like judging the worth of World War II by the cost of munitions alone.
The same incompleteness applies to his other "truths" like citation of regulatory requirements to take breaks (what a horrid thought!), or his reference to 54 categories of regulations (almost equal to the varieties of soup grocers track on their shelves?) One thing learned in classes like the one mentioned, and in management, is that things not said are as instructive as things said. In fact, they offer insights not otherwise available into the thoughts and dreams of the speaker.
George Will has in fact shown us that he dreams of a restoration of that happy time before Teddy Roosevelt when jolly bosses chomping cigars (no smoking bans then!) could make enormous profits from not paying the price of a living wage, having no concerns for effects on environment or safety, and leaving to the poor houses the care of the elderly and disabled. In other words, he dreams of the life of Ebenezer Scrooge, before of course Ebenezer's encounter with the ghost of Marley.
It is time for George to reread Dickens, to see at least vicariously how the employees lived before regulation. Then, instead of merely telling us the costs of things without reference to their value, the tactic of a true cynic, he should begin thinking of and saying what he is for. Perhaps in the process, he may refind the spirit of the season so admirably captured by Dickens. Merry Christmas, George!
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