I am responding to your guest view by Sen. Bill Monning, Jan. 22. The discussion of homelessness and mental illness has been a perennial discussion. There have been calls for affordable housing, an end to homelessness, and support for mental illness for as long as I can remember. Monning’s guest view is no different.
Today we put way too much credit in the opinions, suggestions and programs pushed by politicians. Based on the continuing nature of the problem, the suggestions and work of the politicians and the government has been ineffective. I recall an essay by Bertrand Russell, “An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish.”
It is an essay that should be mandatory reading by anyone that is concerned with the operation of government.
“As soon as we abandon our reason, and are content to rely on authority, there is no good end to our troubles. Whose authority?” Russell writes.
He was referring to people’s practice of relying on scripture. I choose to believe that he would also consider the reliance on the words of a politician, as if they were scripture, as almost the same thing. Mr. Monning is pushing the same old, but repackaged, ideas as solving a problem that has yet to be solved. His conclusions are optimistic at best and unfounded at their worst. They are based on anecdotal evidence and wishful thinking. He ignores criticisms of his ideas. There is not unanimity in the arena of affordable housing, homelessness or mental illness that promotes a one-size-fits-all solution.
One-size-fits-all solutions come part and parcel with politicians like Mr. Monning. It gives them access to lots of money handed out by the federal government. It also allows them to pretend that they lead solutions, which supports their reelection.
“Politics is largely governed by sententious platitudes which are devoid of truth.” Those words by Russell still ring true today:
“The power of governments over men’s beliefs has been very great ever since the rise of large states….But the power of governments over belief in the present day is vastly greater than at any earlier time. A belief, however untrue, is important when it dominates the action of masses of men.”
Russell was referring to war, but it could easily reference any effort by government and politicians to influence belief. He laments:
“No one can deny, in the face of evidence, that it is easy, given military power to produce a population of fanatical lunatics. It would be equally easy to produce a population of sane and reasonable people, but many governments do not wish to do so, since such people would fail to admire the politicians who are at the head of these governments.
“I am persuaded that there is absolutely no limit to the absurdities that can, by government action, come to be generally believed. Give me an adequate army, with power to provide it with more pay and better food than falls to the lot of the average man, and I will undertake within 30 years to make the majority of the population believe that two and two are three, that water freezes when it gets hot and boils when it gets cold, or any other nonsense that might seem to serve the interest of the state.”
It should be understood that the essay was written six decades ago. He continues with some additional important observations that you can read for yourself.
It is worthy to think of ways to help the homeless and the mentally ill. I choose to reject the ideas that come from politicians or government. Clearly these solutions have proved ineffectual by the persistence of most of the problems. Claims of success are either wishful thinking or out and out lies.
The involvement of government has been counter-productive. Government programs do not solve problems because problems are generally complex and defy central planning. Flexible and innovative approaches tried by a host of problem solvers will always outperform top-down government and political solutions.
So by all means address the plight of mentally ill and homeless. Just don’t count on government or politicians to do it. So maybe government and politicians should step back and not lead. Rather they should listen to quiet voices that speak and advocate for real solutions.
Mike Brusa is a retired Morgan Hill resident and an avid reader of history, politics and economics.
