The author of this book is able to diagnose some problems, but her
grasp of economics is woefully inadequate. Her portrayal of the
decline of the Roman Empire and the subsequent "Dark Ages" is an
ideological misrepresentation. It is simply not correct to claim that
the "Dark Ages" was the loss of all knowledge and that science did not
recover till the enlightenment. While the "Dark Ages" were not
the "good old days," neither were those days as totally dark. There
was a breakdown of government, but there were also technological
innovations such as the cam and water wheel; and an improvement in
agricultural techniques. James Burke illustrates that this point
beautifully in his book and TV series CONNECTIONS. Many of
the "founders" of the British industrial revolution would be
considered religious fanatics today. Many of the people who laid the
groundwork for the industrial revolution were Dissenters, i.e. people
who would not swear allegiance to the established Church of England.
Lloyd's of London was founded by Quakers. The Dissenting Academies
(the first, founded by a Presbyterian) were a source of cutting edge
science. The Dissenting Academies were pre-enlightenment. (See James
Burke's THE PINBALL EFFECT and the entry of Dissenting Academies in
THE NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF THE CHRISITAN CHURCH ed. J.D.
Douglas.)
She seems to have a blind spot for government, even though she
recounted its spending discrepancies and abuses. She complains
about housing shortages and admits rent control does not work. But
she advocates building low cost housing. But she admits that housing
provided by the government was not necessarily liked by tenants or
landlords.
She is more than willing to criticize corruption in business.
Perhaps the fact she is on certain government advisory commissions,
has given her a soft spot for government. To paraphrase a common
saying, perhaps she believes her own government excrement and
corruption does not stink.
It is funny that both she and John Stossell note the use of vans as a
means of transport. And both noted that the public transportation
people were not to happy about the competition. Unfortunately Ms
Jacobs puts this at end of the book in her note sections, whereas
Stossell properly puts it in one of chapters. Jacobs denounces the
cutting of funds for public transportation and the neoconservatives
tax cut in the same breath. Maybe she should be talking about
allowing van service to be used instead of squelched by the public
transport lobby. She seems blind to the special interest groups in
government. She also seem blind to the fact that regulatory agency
can backfire and become tools or lobbyist for the industry they are
supposed to be regulating.
Her chapter on abandoning science was more focused on "social science"
and "human engineering" than hard sciences such as physics. She
complains about "traffic engineering" as relying on incorrect
assumptions. This chapter did not really address the issue of
abandoning science. She failed to talk about the frauds such as the
Piltdown man, Haeckel's fraudulent drawings or Kettlewell's doctored
peppered moth experiments. Her chapter on abandoning science looked
more like airing her pet peeves, the automobile, lack of public
transportation and lack of community. If she was so concerned about
science, why does fail to mention that ten times more scientist said
there was NO evidence for global warming (See GIVE ME A BREAK by John
Stossell). She takes a shot at a Canadian official and also George
Bush for not ratifying the Kyoto protocols on the environment. What
she fails to mention is that the Senate against approving the Kyoto
Protocol 95 to 0. Clinton issued an executive order approving the
Kyoto Protocol, thus giving Bush a political hot potato. No matter
which action Bush took he would be condemned. Jean-Francois Revel in
his book ANTI-AMERICANISM does a good job covering the politics of the
Kyoto protocol. He also powerfully refutes much of the rhetoric
against the United States. Ironically Mr. Revel is not an American but
French.
In a hilarious way, her book provides a powerful argument for the
market economy. She may not think so. But her examples of government
misspending should give one food for thought. In certain ways she
seems to say the same things as Russell Kirk. Dr. Kirk also
complained about the breakdown of mass transit and community. He also
complained that certain freeways bisected and destroyed communities.
My friend Cal told me many years ago that he favored mass transit.
That did not mean that mass transit had to be taxpayer supported. I
remember hearing some time ago, that the mass transit ran better under
private ownership in Minnesota, than it did under government
ownership.
Russell Kirk's book THE POLITICS OF PRUDENCE is a better book in
addressing the decay of society. His essays addressing education are
more concrete than Ms. Jacobs. Kirk gets to the point in addressing
decay by pointing to the factors which contributed to the cultural
decline of Rome such as excessive taxation and bureaucracy. (This also
ties in with Burke's CONNECTIONS.) Jacobs seems blind to the self-
interest of government bureaucrats. I doubt it is in the interest of
so called anti poverty people to eliminate poverty, or they would be
out of a job. It is in the interest of public school officials to
fail, claim inadequate funding and ask for more money. Though
churches, the Salvation Army and other private charities are maligned,
they have taken positive steps to put people on their feet. It is in
their interest to reduce poverty. I suspect many of these private
charities pay poorly compared to the business world. For many of
these people it is a mission not a money grabbing job. Jacobs� book
is too surface and superficial. Kirk's book gets to foundational
issues and principles. Kirk demonstrates a better grasp of human
foibles and failings.
In conclusion: Jacobs book has some validity in diagnosis (failure in
education and apprenticeships), but is mostly garbage when addressing
the issue of cultural decline. THE POLITICS OF PRUDENCE by Russell
Kirk is the better book in addressing and countering the decay of
civilization. BASIC ECONOMICS by Thomas Sowell, ANTI-AMERICANISM by
Jean-Francois Revel and GIVE ME A BREAK by John Stossell better
address the issues raised by Ms. Jacobs book. James Burke's books
CONNECTIONS and THE PINBALL EFFECT provide far more informative and
accurate and even entertaining reading on history.
Guy
# posted by GuyTak @ 10:45 PM
