Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan writes a book review on Jeffrey Sachs’ The Price of Civilization in the Wall Street Journal , America’s Enduring Ideal, October 1, 2011. (The full article may only be available to subscribers which I strongly encourage.)

Paul Ryan demonstrates why he is one of the strongest intellects in the GOP. Sachs’ proposal is more taxes and more government and a cultural shift away from the ambition that has driven us for two centuries. Once again we see two schools: one in which the constitution is an obstacle to be overcome and another where the constitution is a philosophy that merits respect.

Sachs is advocating a European model just as the continent is facing a financial crisis from the very society he advocates. Ryan counters:

Such appeals to the citizenry to make sacrifices might be more compelling if Mr. Sachs coupled them with calls for spending restraint in Washington. Instead, his budget proposal insists on the need to “augment” government spending by trillions of dollars in the years ahead. Thus the sacrifices of citizens are to be made to increase the size and scope of a federal government that Mr. Sachs admits has demonstrated little aptitude for allocating resources efficiently or even fairly. This conundrum leads him to a conclusion that would be comical if he were not deadly serious: “Yes, the federal government is incompetent and corrupt—but we need more, not less, of it.”

In a typical elitist mentality of knowing what makes us happy better than we do, Ryan furthers:

Channeling Bentham, Mr. Sachs calls for the establishment of a national metrics for life satisfaction and sets a 10-year goal to “raise America’s happiness.” Although the specific measures are hazy, the steps are clear: For people to be happy, their government must increasingly shield them from the challenges of life. The good life is thus defined as one of ever-more pleasure at the expense of work.

But happiness in this world results not from avoiding challenges but from meeting them. Happiness is the recompense of real effort, whether intellectual or physical, and of earned success. It comes from achievement—from doing something of economic, artistic or emotional value. The satisfaction to be taken in producing valuable things brings with it a lasting sense of personal fulfillment. Mr. Sachs’s design for paternalistic government will only impede the pursuit of happiness.

HKO Comments:

America is more diverse in many ways than most other countries and centralized planning would be even more difficult here. The unwillingness to see the government as a central planner as one of the sources of our problem is the greatest divider in our political debate. Progressive ideologues will always fault the executioner rather than the idea or philosophy itself . Socialism never fails, it is always poorly executed.

Obama is being abandoned by many in his own party who would prefer to hold him rather than his ideas, which they all supported, accountable.

Ryan well articulates the argument that will be at the center of the next election. I encourage you to read his entire review.

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