Reaction Causing Inaction

I'm back for the eagerly awaited, first installment of "When Critics Attack." In my previous blog, "Scrutinize This," I wrote about an article detailing the scrutinizing of how the government handled the return to more normal life following 9/11. Was it too early? What would be the long term health effects? What did the government know and when did it know it?

In the case of 9/11, there were no easy decisions. I doubt there were any perfect decisions that could have been made. All decisions would have pros and cons. I credit the government, especially that of New York City's government, with taking the initiative and making decisions.

Now those decisions are being criticized, public condemnations are being published and suits are being filed. The problem I see with reacting with this sort of second guessing is that it causes inaction in all but the strongest of government officials. Government officials receive very little commendation for what they do right and extreme prejudice for what they do wrong. Out of fear of making the wrong decision, they too often spend as much time as they can talking about the issue, hoping someone else will make a decision that can later be forgotten if right (or even credit stolen) or heavily criticized if wrong.

The resulting behavior of inaction is a dangerous one. Inaction leads to a reactive state instead of a proactive state. Inaction means that your world controls you instead of you controlling your world. When inaction takes over our nation, it means the world will control us.

Of course, one is not to be indiscriminate in their actions. Thought should be given and all foreseeable effects of an action should be considered. But analyzing a situation should always be with the goal of making the smartest, most timely decision possible. We, as the employer of our government, should then accept and appreciate the carefully considered, forward moving decisions of our government officials, even when wrong. Fire them in the next election if their decisions consistently prove detrimental, but always move toward and reward action. Doing anything less is doing nothing it all.