The Highbrow State

"You are the top one percent of Naval aviators--the elite."
--Commander Mike 'Viper' Metcalf (Top Gun)

Business Week recently ran this cover question: "What good are economists anyway?" The story argued that, although economists failed to forecast the recent collapse and in fact implemented policies that contributed to the meltdown, we need their help to get us out of the mess.

This, of course, is the kind of thinking that got us into the mess to start with--not just economically but on a broader social basis. There is a general belief among many if not most bureaucrats and their intellectual following that they know better than the common everyday actors that comprise society. These elitists believe that they are smarter than the average citizen, and that it is their role to 'govern' the citizenry.

The hubris of this attitude flies in the face of America's founding, which was motivated by the desire to throw off highbrow government in favor liberty.

To the extent that we continue to permit the elite 'experts' to make our decisions for us, we're destined to retrace a path towards despotism--a path that our Founders smartly altered on our behalf over two hundred years ago.