Push and Pull of Policy

As a mom or dad, the kids ask you for something you are not sure of. They want an allowance let’s say, and you wonder how this should be done. On one hand the kids need to learn about money and how to handle it, what gives it value, and so forth. On the other hand, what do they do to earn the allowance?  Is this a weekly stipend for inhabiting the planet? Or is it a recognition of routine chores done daily?  Are those chores happenstance or assigned? Is there a formal ‘agreement’ on who does what when and under what circumstances?


In short what is the purpose of the allowance?  All the above, and then, maybe we are making too much of it?


In my mind this is the stuff policy is made of. What is the positive outcome that drives the need for the decision, the agreement? What are the pros and cons of the issue? What unintended consequences might arise from our actions? Are we creating a solution or a future problem?


The push and pull of policy formation is hard work. Essentially, it is the tug between you and us, me and them, the singular benefit of a person versus the fairness and utility to the community of ‘we.’


A policy is an attempt to solve a known problem.  Sounds easy; it isn’t.


Like the allowance matter, one child deserves the money purely from his cooperation and readiness to help with the chores. His sister doesn’t pitch in often and handles every task as a matter of homestead slavery. We know the type! One allowance is a reward while the other is ransom. How then is the matter settled for the now and going forward? How can it be instructive AND rewarding?


Ah, the art of policy making resides in humble places; and very high ones like the White House and Congress. And everywhere in between. Effort is required and must be done if the jobs entrusted to the primary players is to be done.


Protecting the rights of an individual is tantamount to protecting the rights of all. When the rights clash with the good of the public, however, order and health of the community is at stake. How do we handle that balance?


Take immigration; it is a mess precisely because decision makers refuse to manage the policy issues early enough when they are simple to understand. Mounting complexity bars progress until we have the Orwellian mess we confront today. This is not a blame game (although the seeds are there!), it is rather a plea to take responsibility for the tasks necessary to manage the complex realities.


America was founded on being a place of personal freedom, religious freedom for sure, but a whole lot of other freedoms as well. Freedom of assembly, speech, bear arms, and more. These were attendant to the ‘free pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.’ Freedom begins with the person, each of us. But for what good? I suggest it is for the good of the community, the assembled individuals who comprise the community. Extend the community to town, city, county and state; then to the nation; and then to all nations. From one to all. From you to the global village.


We cannot ignore policy formation. None is more important to Americans than immigration policy. Immigrants define us. How we treat them defines us as well. I suggest the two are worlds apart presently.


The president ought not solve this. Congress should. It is their job. Time to do it is long past. How about now?


September 26, 2019