The Tragic Vision vs. The Vision of the Anointed

Thomas Sowell is one of the most profound writers of our time. A mentor of mine, Kevin Bywater of Summit Oxford,  aptly described Sowell as “a national treasure.” One of his most prescient insights is what he describes as the “tragic view of life” vs. the “vision of the anointed.”

The latter category, which served as the title for one of his books, references the group of elite intellectuals, policy makers, and media personnel who profoundly shape the direction of society towards their visions of perfectionism.

They hold that man is capable of near-perfect social arrangement. Problems of poverty, education, and social ills are capable of redress through their brilliant doctrines. The imposition of their will upon the recalcitrant masses is a necessary step towards a better society. Their minds abound with solutions to every malady. The only tragedy is the stubborn refusal of some to relinquish their autonomy to the controllers.

By contrast, the “tragic view of life” is less sanguine regarding the perfectibility of humanity. They see life as lacking in solutions. There are trade-offs which can improve states of affairs, but these come at the cost of other goods. The persistence of poverty or crime is not reducible to bad social engineering, although that certainly exacerbates it. Rather, social pathologies will be forever with us on this side of life.

This is not a prescription for inaction. On the contrary, adherents to this vision see the world replete with sectors in need of reforms. However, they reject the notion that top-down solutions are often feasible. Man’s nature is not infinitely malleable. Incentives and constraints limit the potential for manipulation of rational actors.

One of the greatest flaws in the thinking of the Anointed is a failure to grasp the nature of systemic constraints. They misapprehend barriers as “intentional” malefaction by “reactionaries” when the true constraint lies in the system itself. There is a reason why unemployment insurance expiration dates and the acquisition of a job correlate so highly.

People rationally conclude that the urgency of obtaining employment is lessened when one is subsidized without cost to oneself. The systemic constraint of human nature will not be neutralized by a new Five Year Plan. Neither will humanity be helped by attempts to centralize every possible interaction under the prevue of the Anointed.