Compassion Kills? - Political Commentary

A Fable For Our Time

There is an old story of a woodsman who was walking on the morning of the season`s first freeze. He stumbled on a snake, unmoving and almost frozen stiff. The woodsman recognized the snake to be highly poisonous and considered using his ax to kill the snake.

But then he thought, `man is supposed to be steward to the earth`s creatures. Surely, this poisonous snake serves a purpose here in the woods. I`ll keep it alive so that it can return to the woods.` With compassion, he lifted the snake and took it back to his cabin.

Laying the snake close to the hearth, the woodsman sat back. Gradually, the snake warmed and began moving. The woodsman didn`t notice the snake until he felt fangs ripping his flesh. Falling to the floor, dying, the woodsman asked, ``I helped you, I saved your life and kept you from freezing to death: why did you strike me?`` As he drew his last gasp, he heard, ``You knew what I was when you brought me in.``

There is much that can be analyzed in this old fable. Many things could have been done differently. Some would not have put the woodsman at risk. Regardless, the action was prompted by a feeling of compassion. The woodsman`s unbridled compassion led to a negative outcome. Many compassion based decisions have failed to produce positive results or even produced adverse outcomes, especially when compassionate decisions attempt to micro-manage life. The exercise of compassion through unfunded mandates and arbitrary directives has proved ruinous.

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SUMMARY:Institutional compassion, despite it`s intended good consequences, is often more harmful than beneficial when allowed to progress unchecked. This is particularly true when remote micro-management is imposed.

*Government may want to compassionately provide for segments of the population but must temper that compassion with the realization that demand is insatiable.

*Compassion which usurps another often generates unintended consequences.

*When a program becomes so consumptive as to threaten the sustainability of the country, there should be a provision to ameliorate the unintended consequences.

*When compassion leads to minimalist execution of operations, the objective will be delayed or lost.