FODI: the old should pay for themselves
The Festival of Dangerous Ideas (FODI) is a new festival being run by the Sydney Opera House and the St James Ethics Centre, and includes a range of speakers talking about non-mainstream ideas over the weekend of 3-4 October.
Speakers include Christopher Dawkins, Germaine Greer, Keysar Trad, Greg Barns, Julian Savulescu, Julian Morrow, Dambisa Moyo and others. On the side of all things good and honourable we have:
Yes to child labour, no to the minimum wage, by Ray Evans (5:30pm Saturday 3 October)
People with flat screen TV’s should stop whinging about capitalism, by Oliver Hartwich & Cassandra Wilkinson (12:30pm Sunday 4 October)
Old people should pay for themselves, by John Humphreys (5:45pm Sunday 4 October)
So come along, listen to some interesting talks, and get involved in the debate. Tickets go on sale on 10 August, but if you want to get some pre-sale tickets, feel free to e-mail me.
Federal & State politicians
It seems to be that people with the most talent tend to go to federal politics. I can understand this. Not only does federal politics come with a higher profile and sexy issues like defence and foreign affairs, but (and I think this is crucial) it is the federal government that controls the money, and consequently they are ultimately in control of how things work in this country. The power of state governments has been declining and power has become ever more centralised.
I think the solution is to decentralise the revenue-raising job to state governments. I think this would shift the balance of power back to the states, and make the federal government dependent on state decisions. We would then end up with more competent states and greater jurisdictional competition.
But it’s hard to convince the federal government (or any government) to give up power.
So I was thinking of alternative ways to re-engage people with state politics. One option would be to require all federal parliamentarians to have already served as a state parliamentarian.
This idea occured to me when I was listening to a ReasonTV interview with Glenn “instapundit” Reynolds. Reynolds suggested that Sarah Palin was thrown too quickly into the “big time” and it would have been better if she’d slowly worked her way up from state politics to federal politics and then a go at the white house. The idea was that as a person works their way up through the political ladder, the worst of the worst (hopefully) get weeded out and the people who make it to the top tend to have some experience.
One consequence of this is that the more competent politicians would be forced to be involved in state politics. Not only could this improve the quality of state politics, it may also increase the amount of respect (and understanding) that federal politicians have for state’s rights.
Another option would be to have the State parliaments appoint the members of the federal senate. Alternatively, people could still vote for their federal senators, but only from among current (or previous) state politicians.
I, Pencil
Sinclair Davidson reminded us the other day of the famous essay, I, Pencil.
To me, this little tale, more so than any other piece of writing, illustrates the beauty of the free market.
I’m sure you have all read it, but here’s a reminder anyway:
I, Pencil
By Leonard E. Read
I am a lead pencil—the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and adults who can read and write.
Writing is both my vocation and my avocation; that’s all I do.
You may wonder why I should write a genealogy. Well, to begin with, my story is interesting. And, next, I am a mystery —more so than a tree or a sunset or even a flash of lightning. But, sadly, I am taken for granted by those who use me, as if I were a mere incident and without background. This supercilious attitude relegates me to the level of the commonplace. This is a species of the grievous error in which mankind cannot too long persist without peril. For, the wise G. K. Chesterton observed, “We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders.”
I, Pencil, simple though I appear to be, merit your wonder and awe, a claim I shall attempt to prove. In fact, if you can understand me—no, that’s too much to ask of anyone—if you can become aware of the miraculousness which I symbolize, you can help save the freedom mankind is so unhappily losing. I have a profound lesson to teach. And I can teach this lesson better than can an automobile or an airplane or a mechanical dishwasher because—well, because I am seemingly so simple.
Simple? Yet, not a single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me. This sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? Especially when it is realized that there are about one and one-half billion of my kind produced in the U.S.A. each year.
Pick me up and look me over. What do you see? Not much meets the eye—there’s some wood, lacquer, the printed labeling, graphite lead, a bit of metal, and an eraser.
Read more »
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