On Fearmongering

I can understand “The Street” writer who condemns Ron Paul for engaging in “fearmongering” by making “scary predictions.” When I was a child, I knew a woman – the wife of a distant cousin – who was a confirmed alcoholic. She apparently preferred the short-term pleasure, or other benefits, derived from her habit. Her doctor warned her that, unless she changed her behavior, she might die from cirrhosis of the liver. She failed to heed his warning and, a year or so later, she died of cirrhosis.

This woman’s doctor enjoyed an unfair advantage: being familiar with the processes of causation that attend the practice of medicine, he could see what was implicit in her habit. Ron Paul has a very clear understanding of the causal relationships that are found in the study of economics, and what is likely to occur when people seek short-term benefits at the expense of long-term consequences. Both of these men warn others of the harms they are likely to suffer by their actions that ignore the long-term costs that are likely to ensue. In this age of unbridled group-think, it might be argued that the doctor and Ron Paul had an advantage arising from their superior knowledge and the ignorance of others. In order to discredit Ron, “The Street” writer resorts to the most obvious form of sophistry: because there were other people, years or decades ago, who made predictions that did not materialize, Ron Paul’s warnings must also be without foundation! Is this what passes for “thinking” in our brave, new world?

If this writer is on a genuine campaign to advise us of the practice of people using “fear” and “scary predictions” to promote their interests, will she now direct her attention to how statists are using such fear objects as “ISIS,” “guns,” “confederate flags,” and “hate” language to advance their ambitions for power? Might she take us back to the Cold War fears of the “international communist conspiracy,” or, more recently, the “weapons of mass destruction” with which other nations will attack us?

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