The debate on the confirmation of Betsy Devos and the subsequent 50/50 vote, split, all but two, along party lines, had me wondering about the process of decision making in government.
My personal experience is that in very very few of the decisions one needs to make, is one certain that one has made the correct choice. The choices may be starkly different, but the factors influencing the decision are usually complex, imprecisely defined, and dependent on the vagaries of an uncertain future.
Clearly, decisions do have to be made, from the trivial to monumental. I am thankful that in my life I have only been called upon to make ones that impact the lives of a limited number of people. The thought of having to make a decision that has the potential to positively or negatively affect the lives of our schoolchildren for a generation is frightening.
What I do know is that if I were called upon to make that decision, I would attempt to take into account all of the information available to me at that time, together with my best estimate of the future impact of my decision. After a considerable amount of soul searching I would make the choice that seemed in the best interests of those affected by my decision. However I most definitely wouldn’t be certain that I had made the correct choice.
Presented with a complicated choice, it wouldn’t be surprising if a group of 100 people ended up split 50/50 on their choice. What suggests that we have the wrong people making the decisions is that before any discussion had taken place, you could predict the result of 98 of these people by looking at the (D) or (R) after their name.
Does party affiliation make you certain that your decision is correct? If it does then I suggest you shouldn’t be making the decision. If it doesn’t, then let’s see some evidence of decision making based on your very best attempt to balance the factors in a complex situation in the hope of benefitting all those affected by the decision.