I’ve written once or twice about bell curves before, mostly with regard to taxes, but today it occurred to me there’s another application of the bell curve as to a favorite topic, political activity:
Party loyalty and how it plots to efficient government[1].
I’d like to suggest that one terminus of the bell curve, and hence in the realm of inefficiency, would be the random actors. These are folks who have never learned how to work as a team, how to sacrifice for the team, nor how to contribute to a team. Not only are they deadweight, but they’re destructive. In point of fact, they are not good Party members, and no doubt would not be welcome in any party.
The other terminus of the bell curve, and thus also inefficient, would be the opposite of the random actors in the sense of extreme loyalty. These are folks who, when the pedal hits the metal, they can be counted on to vote the “right” way. They obey party discipline. The Party is all.
And it’s this utter loyalty which betrays them and their country, because this is predicated on a leadership made up of good people. When it’s not, there is no fire ladder, no escape route – dissent, meaning refusing to vote as dictated, leads to expulsion – and the barren lands, for many.
This was brought to mind by Steve Benen’s remark today on Maddowblog:
But many observers keep waiting for the moment at which the bow breaks. There’s an apparent expectation that there’s a cumulative effect to Trump’s troubles, and at a certain, undermined point, congressional Republicans will feel compelled to pull their support and put his presidency in peril.
Yesterday was a reminder that this point almost certainly doesn’t exist. Most GOP lawmakers are quite comfortable with the idea of Trump and his team facing no consequences for their actions.
Their loyalty makes them ineffective in the interests of the Nation.
So how about the center of the curve? That’s where the Party members can dissent in a productive manner. By dissenting, by contributing ideas and evaluations and judgments, they improve the Party in a Nation-friendly manner.
Just like H2O, O2, taxes, and many other things, both too little and too much loyalty is a bad thing.
1By efficient I do not refer to financial efficiency, but rather to government which fulfills its putative duties, such as being responsive to citizens’ needs, law enforcement, regulation, and the like, in an appropriate manner.
