Society Does Not Equal Government

The following quote was written by an awesome economist and give-back hero Arthur Brooks. Dr. Brooks spoke at a BYU Devotional earlier this year and I was inspired by what he had to say about individual impact and giving. You can watch his speech here. It will be 30 minutes well spent. You might even get a raise out of it. The following quote comes from a post he contributed to No Impact Man and you can read it in context here.

"I think that one fair way to describe the main worldview difference between conservatives and liberal is the 'unit of analysis' at which action is necessary to make progress in society. Generalizing greatly (and with appropriate apologies for doing so), conservatives often view society as a big bunch of individuals, and thus individual action as the right focus for our attention. In contrast, liberals are much more focused on the collective, often expressed through the actions of the state. For many on the left, implicitly if not explicitly, individual action is a futile focus for real social change."

Here's my take. Society is made up of a bunch of individuals and I put a lot of stock in individual accountability. But, to make high-impact, positive changes in the world, it takes lots of individuals participating toward a common goal as a society. Where I part most vehemently with liberals is in the notion that society equals government and the idea that positive societal change works best through enacting government policy.

I believe the more people are educated on the impact of their actions, and the less government gets involved in changing those actions the better. So, when I talk about societal changes I am not talking about government interventions. There is a proper role of government, but that role is not to force society (or individuals within it) to do the right thing as a matter of policy (except when protecting the life, liberty and property of individuals.)

I'm going to stop now, because Arthur Brooks is much more fascinating to listen to than I am. I just wanted to establish that I feel it takes individuals educating each other in society (not government) to create lasting positive change. Government policies and politicians come and go, but true principles remain. It is our job to learn what those true principles are. This is my quest.