Despite what that FB friend says, real expertise in government, public health is good | Opinion
My grandfather was the handiest person I knew. If he had the right tool, he could fix whatever you needed fixed. The only thing he enjoyed more than the satisfaction of building or fixing something was going to the hardware store to shop for the right tool!
Most of us have those people in our life. Someone who knows a lot about something we don’t. Your cousin who is a veterinarian. The guy (or gal) you know from church who is a plumber and will take care of you. A neighbor who is an attorney and can give you some simple, good advice. Hopefully you are one of those people for someone else, as it can be a fulling experience to help others with your knowledge.
Another important skill is knowing what you don’t know. For instance, despite my father and grandfather’s best efforts, I can’t hardly fix anything. Given that information, if you were building a new house, hiring me to do that job would be a very poor choice. Another example, I once had the opportunity to utilize Delta’s pilot training simulator at the Atlanta airport. After some basic instruction, I was given the opportunity to see if I could land a virtual plane. It didn’t go well. So, if you are ever in an emergency aboard a plane and I am one of your options to pilot that plane, consider other options first. When it comes to the most important things, competence counts.
Yet we live in a world today where knowledge and experience are no longer in vogue. There are many examples to delve into these days. Just take a pass through social media and you will see all sorts of people who are self-proclaimed experts. You know the people, the ones who are usually wrong but never in doubt. But let’s focus on a couple big ones.
The first is medicine. We know that vaccines are wildly effective. That is not even up for debate. They have been successfully ridding us of diseases for over 200 years. The researchers developing these and other products have a PhD and 10-15 years of higher education. Yet, there are way too many people who will ignore all the above and believe a meme on social media from someone they don’t even know. Can someone give me Candace Owens or Jenny McCarthy’s educational background? Where did they study Virology?
Yet in the end, I know these people know better. I know because when they become ill unnecessarily from their decisions, do they seek treatment from Ms. McCarthy, Ms. Owens or their neighbor with the memes? Of course not. They go to a hospital. There are no Facebook or Instagram hospitals, because that’s not where the experts are.
The second is government. It has always been fashionable to bash people in government. However, it has never been this bad in my 54 years on this planet. Are there bad actors in government? Of course. But find me someplace where there are no bad actors. Every organization has them. Government is no different than any other organization in that regard.
As a former State Representative let me tell you this, you want experienced legislators around. Any organization needs a mix of old hands and fresh ideas. But when you write the laws that govern more than four million people in Kentucky, it is important to look at every word and sometimes every comma. It is always wise to consult experts both in and out of government who can bring the expertise and knowledge that you as an elected official do not have. Of course, these experts may have their own agenda. A good, experienced legislator will know that and ask the right questions to cut through those biases.
Let me leave you with one final thought. The elected officials doing the work are not the ones on social media. The more your elected official posts, the less they are working to solve your problems.
Adam Koenig spent 16 years as a Republican Kentucky State Representative. He owns a consulting company, Koenig Public Policy and Political Consulting. He can be reached at adam@kpppc.us.