There is an old proverb, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” According to Wikipedia, the exact origin of this saying is “unknown, and several variations exist. The first full version of the phrase appeared in a London newspaper in 1828, where it was referred to as a Portuguese proverb.”
The proverb is open to different meanings, depending on its use. The first is that evil actions are often undertaken with the best intentions. These “good” intentions result in unintended, evil consequences.
Wikipedia lists the example of fish farmers who, in the 1970s, began importing Asian carp from China to help clean their ponds of algae blooms.
It took only ten years for the carp to escape and make their way into the Mississippi River System.
Another interpretation of this proverb relates to procrastination or being lazy. We all know friends or family members to mean well but often fail to follow through with their good intentions.
This phrase has often been adopted in books, songs, and cinema.
The 1991 movie Highway to Hell has a scene showing The Good Intentions Paving Company grinding good-intentioned souls into pavement. “I was only sleeping with my husband’s boss to advance his career,” says one.
The largest group of souls forcing good intentions down our throats outside the world of fiction are politicians. These include all politicians, for neither party has a monopoly on good intentions.
A great example is the runaway spending by the Biden/Harris Administration. On Nov. 15, 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Just nine months later, without any Republican support, President Biden signed into law the infamous Inflation Reduction Act.
A March 2023 Goldman Sachs report—listed in the Wall Street Journal—projected that this act will cost another $1.2 trillion—three times what the law’s supporters told us.
With high government spending raising the amount of money in society, America had two years of abnormally high inflation, peaking at 9.1 percent in June 2022.
Referred to as the unseen tax, the high cost of food, cars and housing continues to affect everyone.
We should forgive the politicians who voted for all that spending because it was done with good intentions.
Social activist Bob Woodson, Sr. likes to use facts when he talks about how President Lyndon Johnson’s (LBJ) good intentions with the War on Poverty hurt the Black population.
“Look at the evidence,” says Woodson. “In 1930 to 1940 when segregation and racism were enshrined in law, Blacks had the highest marriage rate than any group in society. In the 1920s, our small business formation rate was higher than Whites. It’s not what the government does for you (that determines your place in society). The incarceration rate of Blacks from the turn of the century up to the 60s was under 25 percent (of the prison population).”
Everything changed in the 60s after LBJ’s program to raise Blacks out of poverty. The Federal Government started enticing Blacks to go on welfare, advising them they were entitled—this incentivized single-parent households.
Today, 70 percent of Blacks are born into a household without a father, and 60 percent of our prison population are people of color.
LBJ’s war on poverty is the greatest failure by the Federal Government in the last 100 years.
Our government is loaded with good intentions but very poor results. Its solution to almost any problem is more money.
One reason the voting public often accepts that argument is that we equate compassion with money.
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“Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes against themselves or their property. When government — in pursuit of good intentions tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the cost comes in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player.”
— Milton Friedman
