No. 326 - Parable of the Pedestrian

I was listening to the Mike Chuch Show on XM Radio this morning and Mike had as a guest, Dr. Amy Wax, a Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She recently wrote a book entitled Race, Wrongs, and Remedies which provides a provocative discussion of policies intended to close the race gap in America.

I tuned in around the time she was talking about the Parable of the Pedestrian:

A pedestrian is hit by a guilty motorist. The motorist is directed to do all in his power to make the injured pedestrian whole. He attempts to do so. However, there are certain things that the injured pedestrian must do for himself. The guilty driver will pay for his medical care, medications and physical therapy, for example, but the injured pedestrian must show up for his appointments, fill and take his prescriptions and perform the exercises required by his physical therapist. In some ways this seems unjust. The motorist was guilty, the pedestrian innocent, but the pedestrian's return to health is dependent on his, not just the motorist's actions.

The lesson of the parable is that although the pedestrian did nothing wrong, he will not walk again unless he takes responsibility for those things which he, and only he, can do.

This book challenges conventional thinking that the government must be the main force that provides help to the black community. Amy argues that such efforts have failed and suggests that those efforts cannot bring equality, and therefore must be abandoned.

I think most government programs, while presumably instituted with the best intentions, have many unintended consequences. This seems like a book worth reading. Too bad Amazon's price is almost $30, or else it might be read by more people.