Honest Mistakes: The Government’s Workbench

People do stupid things. Elite baseball players make errors. The best doctors can’t bat a thousand. Everyone could be more careful, thoughtful, and thorough when it comes to picking a career or even matters of personal conduct. Nobody is immune from screw ups. In war, troops get killed by friendly fire. We’re never going to rise above fallible human beings.

That being said, what is it about mistakes and people making mistakes? And why is it that the government can turn ordinary mistakes into crimes? According to the website dictionary.com, the word “mistake” is Middle English in origin from the 1300s, coming from the Norse word, mistaka, meaning to take in error. One would have to conclude that a word was needed to express taking something in error where previously anything taken must have been considered not to have been an error and therefore premeditated. Could the adoption of the word mistake have represented an important advancement in Common Law, an important if not essential understanding of human interaction and self-governance? Does this hint that societal customs should set precedents for court judgment and decrees, rather than legislative enactments?

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Clearly, though, when it comes to mistakes, something was miss taken, i.e., it was just short of stolen. One of the most famous lines in politics is “mistakes were made” when a bureaucrat or public figure attempts to explain a particular scandal or misdeed without anyone taking blame or responsibility. Apparently, there are also “honest mistakes.” Are there ever dishonest mistakes? I guess that’s what could be called a sin, or a character flaw or even a crime. Why raise the topic of mistakes at all? I think people make mistakes when they try to take shortcuts. If people really thought about what they were doing or didn’t allow their emotions to override good judgment than most mistakes wouldn’t happen. It seems like mistakes come from acting against one’s own will or best interest. I suspect most people would consider themselves pretty honest, but dishonesty seems to arise from taking shortcuts. Dictionary.com also defines the opposite of making a mistake as having understanding. When one understands the situation fully and brings proper discernment or even sees the big picture, mistakes are pretty rare. A fascinating aspect of engineering and science in general is that, for example, when I flip the switch on the wall, the lights light on the ceiling. Think about that for a second. Something so simple that is taken completely for granted today even though the harnessing of electricity is really only a little more than a century old. Nevertheless, if the wiring is not done correctly, there could be a power surge, sparks fly, tremendous heat explodes in a small place, the walls catch fire, and the house burns to the ground. One would hope and even expect that the electrical contractor would wire the building correctly. Assuredly though, houses and office complexes of all sizes are fitted on occasion with faulty wiring. That’s the kind of mistake in which people unfortunately perish. What’s the tipping point between honest mistakes and venality? Take the president of the United States, Barack Obama, for example. An open microphone captures President Obama speaking privately with Russian President Medvedev. What happens next reveals Obama’s arrogance when he says, to paraphrase, that after the election when he is re-elected he will have more flexibility to deal with Russia. Not really an honest mistake, but the episode confirms the worst feelings about Obama. I know a person, a good person, who I would consider to be a good citizen, never been arrested and forays into anti-social behavior have been limited if non-existent. This individual was terminated for cause because without thinking he sent an email in which he outlined an action that he had taken on the job that violated company policy even though the action helped one of the company’s customers and it was this person’s job to take actions to help the company’s customers! Mistakes are on my mind also because of two recent news stories, one national and one in New York. In Florida, George Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, a black teen who Zimmerman has admitted to shooting and killing. Martin, who was wearing a “hoodie,” apparently had an argument with Zimmerman in a gated community that Zimmerman was guarding. Zimmerman claimed self-defense under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law. A jury will now be asked to determine whether Zimmerman felt menaced by Martin or overreacted or just made an unfortunate mistake. In second episode, a heavily medicated 19-year-old bludgeoned his mother to death in the Manhattan apartment that they shared. After being arrested in the gruesome death, the blood-drenched suspect told police, “It was a mistake.” Which brings me to my final thought that the nightmare of the government regulatory apparatus elevates simple mistakes into crimes. In today’s economy, the government’s power to regulate leads to the power to control. Combine this with an incomprehensible and burdensome federal income tax code and ordinary behavior and mistakes become criminalized. The Regulatory State overrides social convention and mores. Imagine how much better the country would prosper without Americans spending countless hours completing IRS forms and saving receipts. How much does government regulation and taxation cost the economy and how many people lose their livelihoods or live in fear of losing their businesses and careers because honest mistakes can put us on the wrong side of the government? And that’s just what we’ll be getting more of if Obamacare and its 2,700 pages is permitted to become law. Is this the line in the sand that cannot be crossed? Anyway, there is one good side effect of making all these mistakes: we can become a little more tolerant and a bit more forgiving of other people’s mistakes, if not also our own.