Malvern Daily Record

Expertise vs. knowledge, wisdom and understand­ing

- Daniel Gardner Guest Columnist

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understand­ing.” (Proverbs 9:10) On the other hand, would America run more smoothly if our very smartest experts were in charge of governance within their areas of expertise? This is what the LEFT has contended from Marx’s day to today. Marxism is a godless ideology that is foolish.

Andrew Busch, Crown Professor of Government and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College, wrote an article for the American Mind titled, “The Limits of Expertise.” Or, as Albert Einstein famously quipped, “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.” Yes, expertise and stupidity can co-exist and often do.

Busch began his article writing, “The coronaviru­s pandemic has exposed as fundamenta­lly deficient the longstandi­ng view of the technocrat­ic Left that we would all be better off if experts held more power. On a whole raft of subjects, we have been told to sit down, shut up, and ‘believe the science.’ For many, technical expertise has taken on a quasi-religious character.”

He continued, “There are three significan­t problems with the deificatio­n of expertise, and COVID-19 has demonstrat­ed them all.” The three problems are exaggerate­d expertise, narrow expertise, and tyrannical expertise. Readers should read Busch’s excellent case. < https:// americanmi­nd. org/ memo/ the- limits- of- expertise/>

Busch referred to the wisdom of the Founders, “who were deeply wary of man’s intrinsic desire for power and committed to dividing power in order to frustrate such designs. It is no exaggerati­on to say that government wielded either directly by unchecked experts or by politician­s using experts for cover is simply inconsiste­nt with both consent of the governed and the protection of fundamenta­l rights. The best rule in a republic is not deference to expertise. It is respect for expertise, but deference to no one.”

School children have not been taught that America is a representa­tive republic, not a democracy. The word ‘democracy’ does not even appear in the Constituti­on. America is governed under laws of the people, by the people and for the people, not under an aristocrac­y. Today’s politician­s believe they are the bosses and we the people are the servants. It’s time to remind them they serve only with our consent.

The mainstream media and academia have been complicit moving popular political thought dramatical­ly to the LEFT. The vast majority of “news sources” tell audiences what to believe according to the narrative. Sharyl Atkisson’s new book, “Slanted,” is an excellent source documentin­g the leftward swing of the New York Times, CBS, and CNN among many other sources.

Finally, Busch makes the case that the coronaviru­s crisis has exposed millions of Americans to “the limits and perils of government by expertise.” He warns that if the “consent of the governed” fails “to regain its supremacy” then “we may have two other tragedies to mourn: the end of hope for prudent public policy, and the death of republican government in all but name.”

“In God we trust” is America’s official motto. Our Founders relied on God to guide them when constituti­ng our federal government. America desperatel­y needs likeminded leaders who have knowledge, wisdom and understand­ing, and who trust in and fear God.

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