THE INTELLECTUAL VS THE ANGLO:

Bentham vs. Hume (DAVID BROOKS, 10/06/09, NY Times)

If you put Mr. Bentham in charge of the government, he’d proceed with confidence. If you told him to solve a complicated issue like the global-warming problem, he’d gather the smartest people in the country and he’d figure out how to expand wind, biomass, solar and geothermal sources to reduce CO2 emissions. He’d require utilities to contribute $1 billion a year to a Carbon Storage Research Consortium. He’d draw up regulations determining how much power plants would be allowed to pollute.

He’d know about battery efficiency and building retrofit programs, and he’d give you a long string of dazzling proposals. So then you’d ask him to solve the health care mess.

He’d say we have to cover the uninsured without bankrupting the country. He’d design a set of insurance policy regulations to make sure everybody gets uniform care. He’d get out his magnifying glass and help pay for expanded coverage by identifying waste in Medicare.

Then, he’d say, we’ve got change the way government reimburses providers. He’d set up a $1 billion-a-year Innovation Center within the Department of Health and Human Services. He’d organize a superempowered Medicare commission to rewrite regulations and hold down costs. He’d set up comparative effectiveness research centers with teams of experts who would determine what treatments work best. He’d encourage doctors to merge their practices into efficient teams because he’d seen successful pilot programs along that line.

Mr. Hume, I’m afraid, wouldn’t be so impressive. If you asked him to take on global warming, he’d pile up reports on the problem. But if you walked into his office after a few days, you’d find papers strewn in great piles on the floor and him at his desk with his head in his hands.

“I don’t know the best way to generate clean energy,” he’d whine, “and I don’t know how technology will advance in the next 20 years. Why don’t we just raise the price on carbon and let everybody else figure out how to innovate our way toward a solution?

That, in its entirety, is how the Anglosphere avoided the worst problems of the Enlightenment, which blighted continental Europe. Hume, despite some setbacks, generally prevails.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 6, 2009 6:28 AM