What got me thinking about this most recently was this story, wherein we are warned that having killed pirates will only make pirates more violent. This type of thinking, I believe, is at the heart of what is wrong with liberals.
The media and liberals (but I repeat myself) have a myopia where they obsess on first-order effects and do not recognize second-order effects. Incentive effects are a complete mystery to them. So while they can make the connection:
Anti-pirate defense -> angry pirates -> more violent attacks,
they don't seem to be able to make the connection:
Million-dollar ransoms and no self-defense -> more pirates
This is very similar to the liberal myopia seen on a myriad of public policy issues, such as welfare dependency and the economy-stifling effect of high taxes. Liberals want to treat the immediate symptom without considering the long-term consequences.
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