178. TANSTAAFL - How many dying babies must pay for your fantasy?

In a recent Business Day column, Repeat after me: there are no free lunches, Leon Louw highlights a disturbing trend – the fantasy that policy decisions have no costs. Louw says: “In the fantasy free-lunch world, governments confer cost-free blessings on subjects …” … a trend made visible via the #datamustfall and #feesmustfall campaigns, amongst others. Louw points out that “People who allocate their own resources to themselves worry about cost and quality; people who allocate their own resources to others worry about cost not quality; people who allocate someone else’s resources to themselves worry about quality not cost; and people who allocate someone else’s resources to someone else worry about neither cost nor quality.” Louw proposes: “Next time someone says “they should do so and so”, ask “at what cost?” Do they want more rape, infant mortality or destitution, for instance? From what — at what cost — do they want resources diverted to what they propose? Encourage them to start with what they want to sacrifice. “I want fewer teachers and more rhino poaching so that the rich can fly SAA”, perhaps.

http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2016/09/28/repeat-after-me-there-are-no-free-lunches