Saturday, January 10, 2009

Act in Haste, Repent in Leisure

Or, in the words of my favorite philosopher Marcus Aurelius, "How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.''

Just been thinking of how pertinent this is lately, what with the violence in Gaza, the riots in Greece, and the ongoing "war on terror" resulting from the events of 9/11. I would also include the ill-conceived bailout and call for more regulation in response to the financial crisis (I don't think we need more regulation, I think we need smarter regulation, and hopefully the Dream Team of economic advisors that Obama has put together understands this but I'm not holding my breath).

It seems to me that the entire world has succumbed to the mentality that we need ACTION NOW! and have become willfully ignorant of the unintended consequences that accompany any action.

Along these lines I'll close with one platforms from the Libertarian Party website (www.lp.org) pertaining to foreign relations (it doesn't really have anything to do with the topic, but it's something that's also been on my mind lately):

The principle of non-intervention should guide relationships between governments. The United States government should return to the historic libertarian tradition of avoiding entangling alliances, abstaining totally from foreign quarrels and imperialist adventures, and recognizing the right to unrestricted trade, travel, and immigration.


1 comment:

Andy Cox said...

I Googled "Act in Haste" as part of my prep for an article/blog on taking the time to reflect before using emotions as the sole source of decisions. One of Page 1 responses was your use of the phrase. I like your post - I also am deeply concerned and skeptical about our current administration's actions - and the consequences of their hasty actions. Good post - Andy Cox