No We Can't!

John Derbyshire of National Review Online has written a curmudgeonly piece railing against irrational optimism. It's an entertaining read that is even more apt in light of recent developments. I'm sure the jackasses who wrecked our financial system were full of exuberant optimism and overinflated self-esteem.

This hits home with me because, like the author, I do not believe in the perfectibility of man. We are flawed vessels. This brought to my mind William Butler Yeats' poem, "The Second Coming."

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Derbyshire unloads on the liberals, but I must note that conservatives fall prey to unreasoned optimism as well. Here's the money quote:

Today, however, American optimism has got completely out of hand. A corrective is needed. The corrective must come from conservatives, the people who understand that "human nature has no history." We must revive the fine tradition of conservative pessimism. In this age, optimism is for children and fools. And liberals.

Some children will be left behind. You cannot "remake the Middle East" or "defeat evil." The poor will always be with us. Black and white will never mingle together in unselfconscious harmony. Corporations will not research and explore without hope of profit. Russia will not become Sweden. Forty million immigrants speaking a single language will not assimilate.

He makes a very good point. Conservatives used to be against not just risky schemes, but any "scheme" at all. Proper pessimism would keep us out of dubious overseas enterprises and prevent hundreds of billions of new government spending.