They can't take that 'dream' away from me... :)

Hello plusaf,
It is a beautiful dream. When they take our dreams what is left?
Respectfully,
O.A.

... or everyone in Congress... they pass laws that affect millions of citizens, but rarely include in their bills ANY reference to before-and-after "effectiveness testing"... i.e., did the bill achieve its promised goals?
And sure as hell, ALL bills should include a sunset or 'self-destruct' clause if they can be Proven INeffective. It'll never happen, but I can dream of Critical Thinking, can't I? :)

And have strict term limits

Of course they should. That is they only way to stop out of control actions. One only has to look at the actions of the judges and DA's in the Wisconsin John Doe investigations to understand the necessity of skin in the game.

Hello MikeMarotta,
Governments are not individuals and their demise is often followed by thunderous cheers, either for good or ill, as a new form takes shape. The impetus of a failing government is the folly of individuals not held responsible in any meaningful way for the consequences of their actions, thus providing incentive for risk, malfeasance and avarice, Were the consequences of failure as acute as they are in the private sector there would be a completely different paradigm. This seems so self evident to me as to be irrefutable. Even if it were not so. So what? It is still a stupid way to do things. I believe this is most evident among un-elected bureaucrats. It has been rightly said that they are who truly run things. As long as we do not elect people that will fire these people they are largely immune from their improprieties. Lois Lerner... Eric Holder... pick the head of almost any of the federal alphabet agencies... The worst that ever happens is they may resign with a pension.
Respectfully,
O.A.

Employment? Perhaps in government or labor union run business or corrupt business where no one gets fired regardless, but not in what I think of as "normal" business. (I agree on the problem with corporation possibly shielding the guilty.)

"We wont' get fooled again." Voting is a good example in support and against the proposition. Voters do not actually reap the consequences of their own actions, but the consequences of other people's actions.

And elected officials can have good reasons for not following through on promises. In real life the job is different when you hold it. That is true of any job, in the private sector as well as the public sector.

It was said that the ancient Mayans played a kind of basketball game in which the losers were executed. That could only have been for some special ceremony - and it must have been a bloody match, considering the consequences.

One reason that the Viet Minh defeated the Army of the South is that the officers from Saigon never risked losing. Losing a battle would be to lose "face." So, they never dared. OTOH, the Viet Minh learned from their mistakes.

If you do not have the freedom to be wrong, you have no freedom at all.

Really? Should police offices, judges, and juries, as well as all military personnel be held personally responsible for their actions? There can be so such thing as a "war crime" if war itself is a crime. We conveniently condemn the Nazis for "following orders" but who does not?

Note that the "Oath Keepers" who claim to adhere only to the Constitution must of necessity be commissioned officers. Non-commissioned officers and mere enlistees (and draftees) must follow orders by their oaths.

In fact, if we each took complete responsibility for all our outcomes, criminal law would evaporate. Being set up by a robber would be no different than being caught in a flood.

Actually, it sounds like employment. In a perfectly free market society, it might be true that everyone would be an independent contractor. Employees might not exist.

One of the arguments against corporations is that they shield individuals from the consequences of their actions.

Think it through, however, and you realize that the statement is hollow. It is true that where we are protected from the consequences of our actions, we are freer to act - for better or ill.

I think of researchers who continue to be paid while following one blind alley after another. Contrast the entrepreneur who will put all the resources she can into an idea to make it work, versus the manager who will cut his losses to avoid going over a budget. It can be said that they both have different consequences. It might also be noted that they have different ways of avoiding consequences: the entrepreneur mortgages her home to keep her business going; the manager lays off staff to keep his budget in line.

In a sense, we all seek to minimize the consequences of our actions. That's a savings account at a bank is for.

If your next move - whatever it may be - could kill you, you might give it so much thought that you are paralyzed from any action at all.

Sowell, of course, was referring to governments. But, they, too, do ultimately suffer the consequences of bad choices.

And how would that apply to juries?

a very intelligent man...i have read all his books and read his editorials as they are printed in Investor Business Daily...

I admire Tommy...someone who woke himself up and has been not just a great mentor (I also studied economics as a major)
and example but has been actively articulating reason and rational thinking in response to the current paradigm.

Wonderful Words from a master. . Thank You! -- j
.

Good way of putting it!

The federal government was never intended to grow into the monster we have today. That's why there was never a IRS or federal taxes envisioned for individual citizens. It was supposed to be a starved, emaciated rat that lived in dark places and stayed out of the sight of common men going about their daily activities. Instead, we have a 1200lb grizzly bear following us through every move we make each day, making each move as dangerous as if WE were a criminal. Oh,and the Grizzly is hungry and has a head ache too.

Hear hear! My view exactly. Moreover, their integrity is admirable.

Well said! Thomas Sowell, along with Walter E. Williams, are heroes of mine. If both of these brilliant men say something, you can count on it being true.

As usual! Thomas Sowell is spot on correct! If you have no skin in the game, what is your motivation of creating value, especially if you won't ever have to worry about losing your job over making stupid decisions!

Sowell is So-Great!!

They pay no price for hardly anything. If the act involved is so egregious that it cannot escape public outrage, then a convenient scapegoat is conjured up to pay the price.

Thomas Sowell is one of the best minds writing today. I greatly admire him.

Thomas Sowell is my hero. Sadly, too many in the black community likely do not even know his name. That is why black communities are going to Obama Hell. Sowell understands economics, reason and personal achievement. Better, he knows how to boil it down and express what he has discovered in a few well-chosen words. If only we had more like him the the classrooms across the country. Both black and white children need to hear what he has to say, else this country is finished - and the little entitlement brats will not like the world they called for.