Free Will; Free Markets; Free Bags

On the notions of free will and government influence in society.

In Ireland, back in 2002, the government imposed a hefty tax (33 cents) on plastic shopping bags. Supermarkets and stores resisted the change at first, anticipating that it would be unpopular with customers. But as the NY Times reports, avoiding the use of plastic bags has become not just an accepted fact of life but a mark of personal commitment to environmental change. "When my roommate brings one in the flat it annoys the hell out of me," said one Dubliner.

Dominique Browning writes in an op-ed piece that she saw plenty of plastic bags and other refuse on her visit Patagonian glaciers. Dominique laments the self-absorption of many of her fellow eco-tourists. If we can't check ourselves when faced with of the decline of such monumental beauty close up, Dominique's piece asks, how can we check ourselves when global warming and environmental protection are simply abstract concepts?

In unveiling his proposed $3.1 trillion budget package, President Bush speaks of "the hard work of the American people and spending discipline in Washington." His formula for achieving a balanced budget? "Simple: Create the conditions for economic growth, keep taxes low, and spend taxpayer dollars wisely or not at all." Meanwhile, as White House budget documents reveal, the accumulated total of all federal borrowing will grow from $3.3 trillion in 2001, when President Bush took office, to $5.4 trillion this year and $5.9 trillion in 2009. Even if we're giving Bush the benefit of the doubt, it's clear that his economic policies haven't met with great success.

Like many people, I tend to dislike any overt external influence on what I do. This applies just as well to my wife's influence as it does to the government's. When my wife told me I should be taking a canvas bag to the grocery store to cart our groceries, I bridled and ignored her. If the government told me I should be taking a canvas bag to pick up my groceries I would probably ignore it, too. I don't like irrational parking regulations, or jay-walking laws, or prohibitions against buying alcohol on Sunday. But I was struck by the report of the sea-change against the use of plastic bags in Ireland that began with a very pointed and determined government initiative to raise people's awareness.

The success of Ireland's plastic bag tax shows us is that if a government attaches a societal cost to something, publicizes that cost, and acts on it (levies a charge to offset or avoid the cost,) the result can be an improved awareness of the right thing to do. As a result, the Irish don't resent the tax, they resent those who don't respect the underlying impetus for the tax.

It strikes me that this translates into something akin to a free will for society or societal free will. Armed with an awareness and a perspective on its behavior, society can choose to do things that don't necessarily come naturally or easily.

Raising society's awareness of global warming has been a major challenge in the United States since we've had a government that refused to acknowledge that global warming was really a problem related to society's actions. When other forces began to raise US society's awareness, though, even a recalcitrant government couldn't prevent a change in society's will to change.

But what does any of this have to do with Bush's budget package? Implicit in Bush's budget package and explicit in his statements is an argument for the free market, and for hands off government. But since inaction is another form of action, hands-off government isn't really hands-off. What we don't do can have just as much impact as what we do do. And when we think about the role that government can play in raising awareness of the populace and championing policies that foster and catalyze people to act in ways that help improve society and the world we live in we realize just what a flawed governing philosophy the free-market, hands-off mantra makes.