Draining the Swamp

This is a term that has been around for quite a while and it is generally used to denote overcoming difficulties that prevent progress.

I think it may have originated in the general concept of eliminating the breeding ground as opposed to fighting the individual problems, say in combating malaria.

It was used in the election to refer to the Washington DC establishment and the problems they create.

Of course to drain it when the vast majority of the politician were reelected could be a problem.

It also is problematic if the swamp is not actually the cause of the problems.

If you actually create a swamp where none existed, it is even worse of course.\

Now people like to blame the Government for all sorts of things without actually knowing what they are talking about.  Of course the Government can be difficult to deal with, does impose taxes on us and tells us things we can't do, so its not going to win a lot of friends, however, it doesn't do these things to cause problems but rather to solve problems.

Take the problem of institutional racism.  Its been with us forever and it allowed non minorities to enjoy a number of privileges, that they viewed as rights.  However, it isn't acceptable and almost everybody is against it in principle.

Now, to overcome it we have added categories to certain things like employment and college entrance to try to level the playing field.  Of course those elements, such as diversity have positive attributes but clearly since in these cases we only hire so many or admit so many some don't get the job or get the admittance who would have in the past.

Is this discrimination?  No, we had discrimination and this is fairness, but we have slightly different winners and losers and the losers who used to be the winners aren't happy about it.

Take things like regulations to reduce pollution.  We had companies freely pollute the air and water that the rest of us had to use.  Regulations that stop them add some cost to their operation and are considered a problem by them.  Of course having cleaner air and water for the rest of us is a good thing, if not as immediate.  I've seen the return of bald eagles to habitats and cleaner waterways in many areas in my lifetime.

This list can go on, but the general point is that the government doesn't just do thing to annoy us or to destroy America.  They do these things because of problems that need to be solved.

One problem becomes the fact that the many who benefit hardly notice the improvement while the few who get hurt are very outspoken.

Take raising the minimum wage.  Labor cost is a certain percentage of the cost of doing business and while an increase in wages will result is some increase in prices, it has been shown in study after study to have an overall benefit to the economy as the net amount of discretionary income increases among those most likely to spend it.  However you see people post examples (false ones) of how raising the minimum wage leads to a decrease in economic activity.

The facts are clear, but we often see the "alternative facts" promoted more because the special interests are well, special.

If you are going to drain a swamp you need to be sure it actually is a swamp and not a wildlife sanctuary.  Further, creating fetid pools of privilege in its place is really not an improvement.