in his book minority report, HL Mencken wrote: “The urge to save humanity is almost always just a pretense for the urge to dominate humanity. What every Messiah really seeks is power, not the opportunity to serve. This also applies to our godly brothers.”
With a little rewriting, you can update the following quote. protectionism:
“The urge to protect the country is almost always just a pretense for the urge to rule it. What all protectionists seek is power, not the opportunity to serve.”
National defense is a common justification for protectionist tariffs, which are taken to absurd extremes. Clothespins, sugar and baby food are all considered essential to national defense and are subject to tariffs.
One particularly goofy example is Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. Called for a ban on Chinese garlic because it threatens national security. Now, if we were a nation of vampires, this argument would make sense. But it’s hard to see how garlic, even potentially contaminated garlic, poses a threat to national security. Scott argues that while garlic poses a potential health threat, it’s not the same as a national security threat.
What’s strange about Scott’s argument is that he doesn’t do it. need If it’s as dangerous as he claims, Chinese garlic should be banned as a national security threat. We already have a food safety program here in the United States, and foreign products are also covered by it. If Chinese garlic poses a public health threat, the FDA has the power to effectively ban contaminated products, including issuing recalls, if they pose a threat to human or animal health. It’s unclear why Sen. Scott’s actions were necessary.
Returning to a theme I have been advocating in recent posts, any intervention needs to be justified beyond mere hypothetical speculation.It just indicates that there is some kind of intervention. did it Achieving some desired outcome does not mean that the action is justified or desirable. The current legal and legislative situation needs to be scrutinized to determine whether this intervention is actually justified or just class corruption hidden behind a false front. One of the questions that Sen. Scott (or any other senator defending this intervention) must answer is why the current law is insufficient. It is already illegal to sell contaminated food in the United States. If Chinese garlic is such a threat, why doesn’t the FDA shut it down?
National defense is one of the justifications that people don’t seem to think about much. It is invoked, but simply not asked. In fact, this is perhaps why the term “national defense” is so successful as a rent-seeking sham. Few people look closely at the mask. Perhaps, like the party-goers at Poe’s Masquerade Ball, lead death maskthose who support false national defense claims are afraid to see what’s underneath that mask.
John Murphy is an assistant professor of economics at Nicholls State University.
