What do atheist evolutionism and libertarian economics have in common?
A version of
this discussion launches at least a thousand times a week on discussion forums around the web and at least once a week on the forum I visit most often:
runnersworld.com. One person makes a religious statement (often designed to innocent responses), an atheist arrives to tell them they're stupid for believing in fairy tales, and another person arrives to say it couldn't have all happened by chance, and the battle begins. A few new characters arrive each time and a few regulars, who are evidently not bored by repetition, are always sure to arrive.
Maybe it's Darwin's 200 birthday that has turned this topic into the super nova of discussion forums recently, but another, equally repetitive, discussion that people never seem to get sick of is the discussion of economic regulation vs. libertarian style deregulation. The reason why these topics never lose steam is that they share a commonality. That is, they sound like intellectual topics but they actually require a relatively low level of intellect to argue vociferously.
Pseudo scientists with a very rudimentary understanding of natural selection and random mutation can respond to virtually any scenario presented by a creationist by saying, given an infinite amount of time virtually anything can happen by chance. Once you understand this simple pattern, you can argue forever. It gives low intellect atheists an opportunity to pretend they have superior wisdom. These inane discussion rarely get to the heart of the matter that is, evolution has nothing to do with whether or not there is a deity responsible for beginning the whole process and furthermore, still governs creation. Evolution explains how creation changes from a scientific perspective. It has nothing to do with the origins.
I'm always baffled by this discussion because I am 46, went to Christian schools as a kid and can't ever remember being taught that I had to make a choice between evolution and my faith. I don't doubt though that some Christians are presented with that choice based on the discussions I've seen. I've even had atheists try to tell me that I must adopt a 6 day 24 hour creation theory if I am truly a believer. This person, of course, had a vested interest in setting me up this way because it is the only stance that his pattern of argument could sustain itself.
Libertarian economics provide the same opportunity for low intellect discussions. You can argue against any economic regulation if you don't hold self correcting, free enterprise to any type of time constraint. Once you understand this simple pattern, you can argue this viewpoint against virtually any suggestion of economic regulation. The problem is, we don't always have an infinite amount of time for free market self correction. It also ignores the fact that a limited but sound regulatory framework enhances free enterprise. The discussion of what level of regulation is appropriate almost never ensues in these discussions because it requires a more sophisticated understanding of economics.
To a great extent, congress and President Bush didn't understand this with the mortgage crisis. The ability to use technology enabled the fraud that ensued in the mortgage industry in recent years to act more quickly and sophisticated than the free market evolutionary process of consumers becoming more wise by learning from mistakes and poorly placed trust and passing that gained wisdom to others and future generations. As a result, our immediate, and hopefully temporary, destiny is to live in an over regulated socialist economy.